Minerva (Take me back to Arda)
by MissIronLady
Summary: Rosamund Harris lived a hard life. Bullied, downtrodden and trampled on her whole life, there wasn't a day she worked hard and tried to get herself out of her impoverished life. She just didn't expect it to end in death. So when Eru Iluvatar gave her another chance at life,she embraced it wholeheartedly, without knowing what was in store for her. ThranduilxOC
1. Chapter 1 - Impoverished

**Chapter 1- Impoverished**

 **A/N:** This story came to mind when I was very young, around Grade 6, I suppose. Though I didn't live an impoverished life. I lived a downtrodden one, I often get bullied that I no longer want to go to school, but didn't have much of a choice. Writing this story was one of the biggest distractions I have back then, and has been rewritten several times, than I can no longer count how many pages I have wasted, and tore, until it developed to something into this story. LOL! Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this one.

There will be some elements coming from _'The Book of Lost Tales'_ and _'The Silmarillion'_.

 **Quick Summary/ Overview :**

Rosamund Harris lived a hard life. Working on a job that barely pays enough to survive monthly, and a boss who often refused to give her salary. Bullied, downtrodden and trampled on her whole life, there wasn't a day she worked hard and tried to get herself out of her impoverished life. She just didn't expect it to end in death. So when Eru Iluvatar gave her another chance at life, she embraced it wholeheartedly, without knowing what was in store for her.

Oromë, the Valar of hunt had sent two emissaries to middle-earth; The Istaris Alatar and Pallando, tasked to weaken Sauron's defenses, as what Eru Iluvatar instructed. However, they have failed, and was destroyed by Sauron himself. The Only remaining Istari true to his call was Gandalf. However, Gandalf could not accomplish everything all by himself.

Knowing the situation full well, Eru Iluvatar tasked the Valars, especially Oromë, to care for the poor Rosamund, and edify her, so that she may one day be virtuous and worthy to fulfil her purpose, to aid the remaining free people of Middle-Earth in their fight against Sauron.

 _ **ONE**_

"Why is this only £800?" Rosamund complained, as she had not been paid for three months, and when the company decides to pay her, they only give her something so little as £800. Not enough to cover for the three months she worked and the overtime she took.

"Take it or leave is Ross..." the boss said nonchalantly, ignoring her complain.

Rosamund clenched her fist and hit the table in frustration and anger. "Listen here you... I did not work for three fucking months, and took overtime to finish the project, just to get paid peanuts!"

"If you ever do that again... I swear I'll fire you." the boss warned. "Anyways, it's not my problem...

"I don't fucking care! I couldn't care anymore, give me my money!" she demanded.

"There is no contract, I can pay you whatever the hell I want..." the boss chuckled.

"Fine... I'm leaving this pathetic place you call company!"

"If you ever leave, I will see to it that no one else will hire you!"

"What?"

"I will make sure that anyone who interviews you will want my letter of recommendation. And I will tell them you are dishonest, bad at work, late, uncreative insubordinate!"

"But that's not true! you can't do that!" she yelled.

"Watch me..."

"There is no contract..." she said, telling a loophole in her situation. "And..." she took the USB out which contained all her design works that she had created for the project, dropped it down the floor, and crushed it with her foot, hard. That it crumbled into pieces. "There goes your campaign..."

"What the fuck did you just do you bitch?!" the boss said, mortified with what she had just done.

"Destroyed 'your' project... good luck in finding a new designer... or even fulfilling the deadline." she said, with a triumphant smile. Though she'll starve all over again for another month, she didn't care, as long as she still had her pride and self-respect.

She quickly walked out of the boss' office to find other employees to be staring at her, and they all erupted in cheers, as she walked out of the floor, and into the elevator.

The good thing was, she was still able to cash the £800 cheque. However, she didn't know if it was enough to last her a month with meager funds.

Going around the aisles of countless food in a cheap grocery store, she couldn't help but think bitterly of what her life had become. She had been kicked out of the house at sixteen, and depended on herself then. Her father was an irresponsible man, though he earned a lot, it was mostly her mother who paid for everything they had, while he spent it on other women, and his 'other' child.

She clenched her fist, remembering how she ended up in a shelter at a young age. It was because of her father's mistress, or rather her father, that she was in this predicament in the first place.

As the checker scanned all the produce she had bought, she saw the ticker mover over the £50 mark. Which was her actual monthly budget.

She frantically started removing items from the conveyor belt, and was met by stares of the other people in the counter. She felt a little ashamed, and quickly walked out of the grocery store as soon she paid and her groceries were put into bags.

The skies had been grey as soon she stepped out of the store, she would have to hurry to the tube if she didn't want to get caught in the rain. With a sigh, she stepped into the pavement, and attempted to cross the street.

She planned to have a bowl of canned soup and some refried beans for dinner. And perhaps play her favourite computer game tonight, maybe just to forget her current situation. Her character, which is an archer, had already reached a high level, high enough to access some privilege inside the game.

"Miss wait! you forgot your change!" a woman from the grocery store called from behind her, taking her out of her reverie. She turned around to walk back towards her, and get the money she had forgotten to take. Only to find herself, flying a few metres away and landed in the pavement. A car had just hit her and she felt sudden abrupt pain. She saw everyone running towards her in a slow motion, before everything blacked out.

 _"Everything will be alright now, child..."_ a soft voice was heard in the darkness. Though it was dark, the voice made her feel unafraid, secure even.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a beautiful place, she didn't know how she could see the stars, and the galaxies up in the sky, as she stood in the grassy fields of golden flowers, but she could. She thought for a while, and believed that she must be in heaven.

"How is this possible? did I do enough good?" She thought herself, and tried to recall her deeds and misdeeds while she lived on earth.

 _"Child..."_ the gentle voice called her again, she turned around to find someone walking towards her, though that someone looked harmless, she felt afraid, causing her to fall to the ground and on her knees. She was in awe, as she watched Him draw closer towards her, and sat beside her. He was magnificent, and His beauty is indescribable. But there was one thing she was sure of. Sitting next to her is none other than her Maker. The Creator.

 _"Do not be afraid..."_ Eru gave a reassuring smile, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you?" she asked, but before she can even finish her question, He nodded.

"Am I in heaven?"

"Yes... but not for long..."

"W-what do you mean?"she asked worriedly. "Please don't send me back there... It's dark and miserable, I can't live another day in that world. You've seen how my life played out, so please, do not send me back in there." she pleaded , as tears fell down her cheeks.

 _"Do not worry... I would not... but I have something in store for you..."_ Eru said, as she wiped the tears off her eyes. " _You never were from that world Rosamund, you never belonged in there..._ " Eru added, which made her feel more confused.

"W-what do you mean?"

 _"In time... child, you will know..."_ He assured. _"I have plans for you, plans to help you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..."_

To her, it felt vague, but somehow, she felt confidence in Eru's words.

 _"I will give you a new life, and a new purpose, and hope..."_ He added, she felt moved with his words. How he wished his earthly father spoke the same as her Creator. But no, all her father gave was give her repetitive disappointments throughout her whole life.

"What is my task?" she asked enthusiastically, which made her receive a sincere smile from Eru.

Eru had been speaking a little vague, hence she wants to know what exactly it is.

 _"You are to aid in fighting darkness, the darkness of the world."_ Eru stated, seriously.

She suddenly regretted asking, hearing how serious Eru announced her task, and suddenly felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. She was a nobody, and didn't know how to accomplish such heavy task.

 _"But do not worry child, you will not be alone, there will be others, and I will always be there for you, even in the Darkness. As long as you never stop seeking me my child, as long as you keep hope in you, even in the darkest days, you will be fine."_ Eru assured, and there was confidence in his words.

 _"Sleep now... for tomorrow, you will begin your new life... You will now be known as Minerva..."_

Eru smiled, as she suddenly found herself sleepy. Despite the vagueness of her task, she found herself looking forward to it.

 **A/N:** First chapter done! Hope that you liked this one. Also, I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors.


	2. Chapter 2 - Lords of the West

**Chapter 2 - Lords of the West**

 **A/N:** 'Lord's of the West' is a common title for the Valar, fourteen beings of great power that had existed before the World, and descended into it to guide and govern it at the time it was created. They had originally dwelt in Middle-earth, on the island of Almaren, but after Melkor wreaked destruction on that dwelling, they removed to Aman in the West.

In Aman, they founded a new land for themselves, Valinor, and created a city, Valmar, and so they truly became the Lords of the West.

 _ **TWO**_

Rosamund woke to find herself in a beautifully decorated room, surrounded with colourful tapestries and exquisite furniture. She slowly got up from her soft bed, and examined her surroundings. There was a large mirror on her side and found herself dressed in a beautiful, light coloured embroidered gown, as if it was some haute couture piece from the runways of Paris. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose braid, and her ears were adorned with bright jewels. It was as if she was a princess.

She got out of her room, and looked outside of the door, examining her surroundings. There were quite a number of people walking back and forth the small hallway, and all of them were dressed beautifully as she is.

Mustering all the courage she had within her, she got out of the door, and finally ventured out of her room, walking along the hallways of this mysterious place.

The place, like her room, were adorned with beautiful items, and all seemed to tell a story with the drawings that were illustrated on it's surface.

"I see you are awake..." a gentle voice of a woman got her out of her reverie. She turned around to find one of the most beautiful woman she had seen her life.

"I..."

"Do not be afraid, Minerva..."The beautiful lady said, calling her, by her new name, given to her by the Creator.

"W-where am I?"

"You're in Valinor..."

"V-Valinor?"

"Yes... the Undying lands..."

Rosamund looked at her confused, causing her to give a reassuring smile.

"Do not worry child..."

"I... I'm sorry my lady..." she paused for a while, and thought of a more polite way to ask her identity. "M-May... May I know your name My Lady... I'm quite new here..."she stuttered, and looked down shyly.

"I am Yavanna..." Yavanna said, as she cupped her face, as if she was her daughter. There was a reassurance in her voice that it was alright to ask. "Giver of fruits..."

"L-Lady Yavanna... why-why am I here? the last time I can recall is that I was speaking with the 'Creator'" she said, referring her encounter with the Creator, after she died.

"Yes... and that was Eru the Iluvatar, the Creator..."

"He spoke of a task..."

"Yes... and you will find out what it is, in due time..." Lady Yavanna smiled, and motioned for Rosamund to follow her.

After walking quite a distance, they came to a stop, which was in front of a grande tapestry, woven with a series of stories. " These tapestries are woven by the Valar, Vaire.

"Woah... this is a big one, what's the story?" she asked curiously, examining the pictures that was woven on the surface of the silky fabric.

"Look closely, and you will see." Yavanna said.

Rosamund did as what was instructed, and looked closely at the drawings. Suddenly, she found herself being taken inside the tapestry, as the drawings came to life, and flew past around her.

 _ **"It began with the forging of the great rings..."**_ a soft and gentle voice was heard from the background, she didn't know who it belonged to, maybe the tapestry had a voice of it's own.

 _ **"Three were given to the elves... Immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings."**_ three beautiful people were then shown, looking at the rings given to them.

 _ **"Seven to the dwarf lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls."**_ it then showed seven people half her size. They were indeed dwarves.

 _ **"And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of men, Who above else, desire power."**_ The vision showed nine people, and it slowly faded, into a map.

 _ **"For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race. But they were all deceived... For another ring was made..."**_ The vision then transported her into an 'dark' and desolate place. _**"In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the dark lord Sauron forged in secret, a master ring."**_ It then showed a person in an dark armor, holding some sort of golden ring. _**"To control all others and into this Ring he poured all his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life."**_ For some reason, there was something so familiar with the man holding the golden ring, though she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Despite the fact, that what she is seeing is only a vision, the person terrified her.

 _ **"One by one the free lands of Middle Earth fell to the power of the Ring. But there were some who resisted"**_ The scene then changed into a battlefield full of soldiers, assembling for war. _**"A last alliance of Elves and Men marched against the armies of Mordor. And on the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle Earth"**_

The scene then changes into disturbing scenes of war and strife, which terrified her further, wanting to get out of the vision as soon as possible. However, she there was a feeling of wanting to stay, and find out more.

 _ **"Victory was near... But the power of the Ring could not be undone."**_ The terrifying figure that she had seen earlier, stepped into the battle field, wearing the golden ring on his finger. The soldiers backed off looking fearful, as the terrifying figure move towards them and swings his mace, scattering the army all over the field. A man, who appears to be one of the leaders, moves forward to try and engage the dark figure into battle, but he was thrown away by the mace, and crumples against the rock, dropping his sword.

 _ **"It was in this moment, that Isildur, son of the King, took up his father's sword."**_ A man who appeared to be the leader's son, comes forward, takes his father's helmet off and holds his father close to him.

The man called Isildur looks up at the terrifying figure, by the name of Sauron. Isildur then dives for his father's sword, but Sauron stamps on it, breaking it. He makes a grab for Isildur who swipes at his hand with the broken sword, severing the finger with the ring on it. It falls to the ground. Elendil opens his eyes and looks at it in awe. Isildur looks up at Sauron who appears to start losing his power. A large explosion happen causing all the armies to be knocked down backwards. The dark lord's helmet crashes to the ground.

 _ **"Sauron, the enemy of the free people of Middle Earth was defeated"**_ Isildur then picks up the severed finger of the dark lord, and watches it disintegrate to ashes, leaving just the ash and the ring in his hand.

 _ **"The Ring passed to Isildur who had this one chance to destroy evil forever, but the hearts of men are easily corrupted."**_ The vision changes into Isildur riding through the woods on a horse, and the golden ring appeared to be hanging on his neck. It was then when Isildur and his men are ambushed by some terrifying creatures. He was then knocked off his horse, as his men are being slaughtered. He then pulls the ring off its chain, and puts it on, causing him to disappear instantly. As the battle continues, he runs and dives into the river, but as he swam, the ring fell off from his finger, revealing him to his enemies. He attempted to grab it, however, he missed it.

 _ **"It betrayed Isildur to his death."**_ Isildur's body floats off down the river, as the Ring sinks to the riverbed. _ **"And some things that should not have forgotten were lost. History became legend, legend became myth, and for two and a half thousand years the Ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, It ensnared a new bearer."**_ A hand then appears to grab the golden ring from the bottom of the river.

 _ **"The ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains, and there it consumed him. The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind, and the gloom of Gollum's cave it waited. Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear. And the ring of power perceived. Its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum. But something happened then that the Ring did not intend, it was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable."**_

A small creature picks the ring up from the ground, and carefully examines it.

 _ **"A Hobbit..."**_

At that final word, the vision started to cease, reducing into something like sand as it returned back inside the tapestry.

She fell into her knees down the cold floor tile, not knowing how to react with what she just saw. Everything inside the vision was terrifying.

 _"Minerva..."_ a voice called, jolting her out of her reverie. She looked up to find herself no longer in the halls filled with tapestries. But inside some sort of 'theatre in the round', or circular meeting hall, surrounded by people who were terrifyingly beautiful.

 _"Do not be afraid child..."_ Yavanna said, as she got out of her 'throne' like seat, and approached her.

"Where am I? w-what happened? how did we get here so fast?"she had many questions to ask, but was only met by a smile from everyone.

"You're at the **Máhanaxar,** this is the place where all the Valar gather to hold their councils."

"And... and... who are all of them?" she asked, looking at every who was seated on their thrones. They all looked so magnificent, yet terrifying. That she looked at them with so much awe.

 _"They are the Valars... Lords of the West... Powers of Arda "_ Yavanna said proudly.

"I am Yavanna, giver of fruits, and the Lady of Earth..."

"M-Mother earth?"

Yavanna nodded and smiled "You could say that..."

 _"This is Manwë, the Lord of Winds, and King of the Valar and the one that best understood the will of Eru"_ The person who sat at the most inner circle, smiled kindly at Rosamund. He has a kind and compassionate face, which makes him a lot more beautiful.

" _And this is Ulmo, the Lord of Water, Kings of the Seas_ " Ulmo is a beautiful man, who wore a beautiful grand armor and held a trident. He was dressed in robes of blue, the color of the sea during the storm. He smiled at her, which she returned.

" _This is Aulë, my husband, the smith, the craftsman, and the Lord of Earth and all that's underneath._ " Yavanna said, as she smiled to the person who happens to be her husband. Like the rest he looked handsome, and on the side, he held a long and intricate hammer.

"Oh..." her eyes widened when she heard the word 'husband', and looked at _Aulë_ who was beaming at her.

"You were a 'designer' I heard?" _Aulë asked curiously_

"Y-Yes s-sir... I mean my Lord... or I do not exactly know what to call you... I'm sorry" she said, and looked down in embarrassment, as she found herself babbling.

 _"That is alright child..."_ Aulë said reassuringly.

 _"Aulë is a patron of designs and craftsmanship, he would love to see your work someday."_ Yavanna added, and she placed her hands on Rosamund's shoulder. Assuring her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

 _"This is Oromë, the huntsman, the Lord of the Forest, and the Great Rider."_ Another handsome figure was introduced to her. He wore a grand armor with the likes of Ulmo, the difference was is was darker, with intricates of gold. The intricates of gold were drawings of figures, which she couldn't pinpoint as she wasn't close enough to see it. But just like the tapestries, she was sure that it told stories. Though his face smiled at her, his face look hardened over the years.

"H-Huntsman of?" she asked curiously while looking at him.

 _"Evil..."_ Yavanna stated with seriousness.

"Oh..."

 _"This is Mandos, The Judge of your deeds... you were just walking in his halls earlier..."_ Yavanna continued, introducing another person. Mandos was very handsome like the rest, but he looked very solemn. He gave a slight smile to Rosamund, but his expression quickly returned to a solemn one.

 _"This is Irmo... Lord and Master of Dreams, Visions, and Desires, and Creator of the Oloré Mallé, or Path of Dreams."_ Irmo, like Mandos looked very handsome, yet solemn.

 _"He is the brother of Mandos..."_ Yavanna stated, as if answering her question she had in mind. _"If you want to rest and leave all the cares in the world, you should visit his garden, and draw refreshment from its fountains."_

"I am looking forward to that..." she said enthusiastically, causing Irmo to smile at her.

 _"And this is Tulkas, the wrestler, the champion of Valinor..."_ Like Ulmo and Oromë, he was handsome and wore a grand armor. But he look less serious than the two of the Valars.

"Warriors? what's the difference between Oromë and him?" she asked curiously.

 _"Ah... good question love, Tulkas laughs in battle, whilst Oromë is dreadful in anger. You wouldn't want to see it."_ Yavanna said, giving her some sort of warning not to anger Oromë.

"Oh..."

Yavanna then proceeded to introduce their female counterparts.

 _"This is Varda, the Queen of Stars and the Valar, wife of Manwë"_ Rosamund stared at her in awe, for her face radiates a very bright light. She felt like the sun during spring, only brighter. Varda smiled at her, but she didn't return it back, as she was still in awe of her brightness. Though she was bright, she wore a dark robe, embroidered with bright jewels that shone like stars. It was as if her gown was trying to depict the galaxy full of stars.

 _"This is Nienna, the Lady of Mercy. She is the sister of Mandos and Irmo."_ Like her brothers, Lady Nienna had a very solemn countenance, but the difference was, there was more kindness in her eyes.

 _"This is Estë, the Gentle, Lady of Healing and Rest, and wife of Irmo. She was the one who healed you, of your injuries from your accident. So as the emotional hurt and weary from your previous life."_ Rosamund gave her a grateful smile as she looked at her. The Lady is beautiful and had a gentle smile like Yavanna has.

"Thank You my Lady..." Rosamund said softly, as Estë gave her a warm smile in response. It was no wonder that she felt emotionally and physically light, because she was healed by her.

 _"This is Vairë, the weaver and wife of Mandos, she is the maker of the tapestries you have seen earlier."_ Vairë is beautiful, but a little less solemn than Mandos.

"Your tapestries are beautiful..."

 _"Thank You child, I will soon train you how to make them..."_ Vairë smiled.

Rosamund turned to Yavanna, confused.

"Yes, you'll be trained by everyone here so that you may be worthy to fulfill your task one day, when the time comes."

Before Rosamund could ask further, Yavanna continued with her introductions.

 _"This is Vána, the ever young, responsible for preserving the youthfulness for all life in Arda. She is also my younger sister, and the wife of Oromë"_ Vana like her sister, is very beautiful. Her robe depicted flowers in them, as if it were a garden.

 _"And this is Nessa, the Swift and vivacious, wife of Tulkas and sister of Oromë. "_ Yavanna said, introducing the last lady. She indeed looked very vivacious.

After the introductions, there were so many questions that flooded Rosamund's mind.

"What's my purpose?"

 _"You are chosen to counsel and assist all those in Middle-earth who opposed the Dark Lord Sauron."_ Manwë said.

She suddenly felt terrified upon the mention of Sauron. The vision that she saw of him, terrified her, what more if she were to see him face to face.

"B-but I'm a nobody! I'm weak and a little cowardly! How am I supposed to fight a powerful dark lord."

The Valar all smiled at her, upon hearing her reason. They had heard the same reason, years ago, being uttered by a Maiar named Olórin, who now goes by the name of _**Gandalf**_.

 _"And that is the same reason why you are chosen Minerva..."_ Manwë said, which further confused Rosamund.

 _"It is for you to overcome the fear."_ _Oromë_ added.

 _"But do not worry, we will edify you, so when the time comes, you will be ready."_

It still felt very confusing to her. But she left it be, no longer wanting to ask further, as it gave her a headache, just trying to comprehend what they are exactly trying to say.

 _"In time, you will understand."_ Oromë assured before the council adjourned.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors. Just a few things to take note of; Olórin is actually Gandalf, and before he left for Middle-Earth, it was mentioned that he felt afraid, because he was afraid of Sauron. You can read it on the Silmarillion, or just go to the wiki page.


	3. Chapter 3 - A Quiver Full of Arrows

**Chapter 3 - A Quiver Full of Arrows**

 **A/N:** The character Minerva/ Rosamund belongs to me, the rest is Professor Tolkien's!

 _A number of years later..._

It was one of those festivals, that elves celebrate yearly, and it involved lots of parlour games, booze, food, fireworks, and other competitions. Minerva's favourite would be the archery competition, where archers shoot projectiles at a great distance, that sometimes, it was very impossible to hit.

The Valar had trained her for the past few years, but they haven't mentioned anything about sending her to middle-earth yet. Maybe they thought she wasn't ready. So for now, she would entertain herself and practice some of her skills by joining competitions, that are almost impossible to win.

"Minerva... you're next..." The master archer called her out of her reverie.

She stood from one of the benches, and wiped her sweaty palms on the fabric of her dark dress. Despite being taken under the wing of the master hunter Oromë, she still felt nervous. To win is to gain full standing in the community, and to fail is, well... not much difference, however, it would still be a little frustrating.

She then began to string her bow, and stretched it, to check if the string is secured on its place.

It was then, when everyone turned silent, and silently watched, as another archer takes up the almost impossible challenge.

Armed with her bow, Minerva waited for the projectile to be thrown in the sky, from a distance, before she could shoot it.

A projectile was then thrown upward, 500 feet away.

In a quick motion, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and quickly aimed at the projectile. She then quickly released the arrow and it successfully hit the the projectile in a distance.

The crowd erupted in cheers, 500 feet was easy, almost everyone who joined hit the 500 feet mark, and the competition is mostly about who is more accurate when it comes to range. So far, only the master hunter Oromë, is able to achieve the impossible feats, as she had seen him aim at target from a very, very large distance.

500 feet, then turned into 1000, as another projectile was thrown twice the distance earlier.

The arrow that she drew hit the target accurately once more, gaining another cheers from the crowd. 1000 feet turned to 1500, and then it turned to 2000 and 3000. All which were hit accurately by Minerva.

It was then where the crowd grew silent, 3000 feet was the longest record made, and the fact that she was attempting a new record with a greater distance, made the crowd curious.

The projectile was then released, as everyone's eyes widened in disbelief on how far the distance was.

She then drew her bow, and aimed at the target, further stretching the string of her bow. She then released the arrow up into the air, and into the target, accurately hitting it as it is pushed the projectile a few more metres, before hitting the ground.

Everyone erupted into a louder cheer, as she successfully hit the target, creating a new record. Some people from the crowd, carried her, and threw her up in the air.

The master archer then called her to the side, as the target was collected from a distance.

"Someone wants to speak to you..."

She followed the master archer to the side, and found the person who wanted to speak to her, was none other than the Lord Oromë.

Minerva gave a bow, as a sign of respect, before greeting him.

"My Lord, it is nice to see you today... rather this evening."

The Valar smiled, "I have seen that your archery has improved greatly.

"Of course, I was trained by the best." she said, trying to complement her mentor, causing him to laugh.

As the projectile was brought before them, everyone who was present, fell silent. The arrow that was released hit exactly, the middle part of the projectile.

Oromë looked at her proudly, before saying "Child... you are ready..."

Minerva then found herself in the middle of the council, it was the day that she had dreaded, the day that she had feared, though the Valar said she was ready to do her mission, she didn't know if she was, and began doubting herself.

"Minerva... " Manwë, called her name gently, removing her from her self-doubt.

"Y-yes my lord..."

"Something troubles you?"

"I am afraid... I am afraid to go my lord... But I will go, so that I may fulfill the task that Eru has given me."

Manwë smiled at her , as he held her shoulder encouragingly. "Do not be afraid child, there will be people to aid you, all of us will aid you, and most of all Eru Iluvatar will always be there for you when you need help." the King of the Valars reassured.

Manwë then gave her a dark cloak. "This cloak will protect you from the harsh winds, the rain, the ice, and fire."

Next was Ulmo who gave her a water vial. "If you are thirsty, drink from this vial, it will never run out of water."

Aulë came forward, afterwards, and gave her a pair of twin long knives, and a shortsword. "This weapons are meant to fight in close combat, and can cut right through the hardest metals, except mithril ofcourse. Use it when you are in danger."

The next one was non-other than her mentor; Oromë, who appeared to be carrying a beautiful bow and a quiver of full of arrows. "This bow can only be strung and wielded by me and you, and this is a quiver that never runs out of arrows..."

"R-really? it never does?"Minerva asked, finding it hard to believe, but then they are the Valar, so there is almost nothing impossible.

"Yes... Aulë made sure of that..." Oromë said complementing Aulë's work.

"B-but how?"

"Magic, my child..." he simply stated, before moving aside.

Next was Mandos, who gave her a beautiful, intricate necklace, "If you ever find yourself in doubt, this necklace is to help you make the right judgement with everything."

And then next came Irmo, carrying a scent burner and a small dream catcher. "The scent burner to help you calm down, and the dreamcatcher is to protect you from nightmares, and help you remember your dreams. If you are on your darkest days, just light the burner, and put the dreamcatcher beside you. It will help you throughout."

Next was Tulkas, who gave her a dark leather cuirass, and two leather bracers for each arm, which both had the drawing of 'The Two Trees' of Valinor, along with the sun and the moon, as if it was telling a story. "This is a light armor, a leather that is unpierceable by any arrow or blade, it will help you move around quicker during battle."

Next came were the Ladies of the Valar, thought they did not give her items like their husbands and brothers, they gave her their blessings, and uttered a prayer to Eru Iluvatar for the success of her mission.

"If you're ever lost, just look up, and the stars will guide you wherever you want to go" Varda said.

"If you find yourself in danger, talk to the trees, though you do not hear them, they will protect you." Yavanna said.

Nienna and Este then came forth, and gave a gift that complemented what Irmo gave.

"May compassion never leave you..." Nienna said.

"And may you never conceived hatred for so long in your heart, that it might consume you." Estë, followed.

"May Eru be always with you, and direct you to the right path." Vairë said.

"May your heart and soul never grow tired or weary of doing good." Vána added.

"And may joy never leave your heart, and may you find it, even in the hardest times." Nessa said, ending their wishes for her.

Minerva remembered the last word of Manwë _"May you succeed where others have failed."_ and just thinking about it gave her a lot of pressure.

Sitting at the floor of the ship's deck, she couldn't help but wonder why is she the only passenger. However, one of the elven crew sat beside her, answering that question.

"Everyone wants to leave middle-earth, yet here you are, a _Maiar,_ going back to it" he said, offering her some apple slices, which she took and ate.

The winds had been kind, partly because of Manwë and Ulmo, providing her a safe travel.

"But aren't you suppose to travel back too? to find out the news? and to ferry others back to the undying lands."

"Yes of course... though, we all know the reason... it just feels strange as I've never really seen someone head back... I just want to add the fact that you're not alighting at Lindon, but we're sailing until we reach the river of Anduin. it is Manwë's and Oromë's strict orders."

"I-Is it? but why? isn't the current of the river a little too strong?"

"Not if Ulmo is in charge of the currents..."

"And we cannot have Sauron or any of his forces know of your arrival..." The elven captain added, whilst climbing out of the deck.

Countless of hours later, in the dead of the night, their small ship anchored down not far away from the shore.

The small elven crew wished her well, before quietly sailing back to the direction of Lindon. They also advised her to wait it out, until dawn, so it would be safer.

It was daybreak when she had woken up from her sleep. The forest was a little dark, and was nothing compared to bright forests of Valinor. She swung her small backpack on her shoulder, along with her weapons, and slowly walked to where the direction of mirkwood was.

She was under the strict orders of Manwë, to immediately head to Mirkwood as soon as she gets on shore.

The Old ford, the point where the Old Forest Road crossed the river Anduin, about forty miles downriver from the Carrock, no longer had the bridge it used to have in the map. She felt irritated with the fact, that the sailors had dropped her off in the wrong side of the river.

However, before she could continue complaining, a tall man walked out of the woods behind, ignoring her presence, and walked continually as if he was not afraid of getting wet and cold.

"Wait! Excuse me!" Minerva called, calling the man's attention. "How are you going to cross the river?"

"Why... I'm gonna walk towards it..." the tall burly man said stating the obvious, as he prepared to walk half way.

"Are you not afraid of getting wet or cold?"

"No... I have my ways actually..."

"Would you help me cross? please?" she asked nicely, and the man agreed without any hesitation.

"Just promise me you won't feel afraid of whatever you'll see..."

Minerva looked at him confused, as the man kneeled down, offering his back, and carried her in a piggy-back, and to her utter horror, the man turned into a tall, large bear, and together, they crossed the waters of the Anduin river.

Upon reaching the other shore, the man turned back into his human form, and began to walk to a different direction.

"Wait! you're a **Beorning!** "

 _"_ _Yes... I am..._ _"_ the Beorning said , looking at her curiously, even the elves of Mirkwood and Lorien, and the men of Dale and Rohan don't feel surprise seeing a Beorning. " _Where are you from? have you ever seen a Beorning before?"_

"No... only in books, and the tapestries of Vairë..."

The beorning raised an eyebrow, not really getting what she was talking about. "Lady... where have you been all these years?"

"Far... far away from here..." she said, not exactly wanting to say much information about where she came from.

"And you're heading to Mirkwood?"

"Y-yes..."

The beorning eyes suddenly widened. "By yourself?"

"Yes... what is wrong with that?"

"Are you not afraid my lady? the woods haven't been exactly cleansed..."

"No... I'm not... cleansed with what?"

"Darkness... spiders... you know that you should not be travelling alone..."

"Do not worry sir, I can take care of myself..." she said, assuring him.

"I would've accompanied you halfway, but I have some task at hand, back home... " the beorning then reached for his backpack, and took out something that is wrapped in a brown paper, and tied up with a string. "Eat it when you get hungry..."

Minerva smelled the parcel, and found out it to be _'Honey Cake'_. "Oh! Honey cake! I heard that you beornings are very good bakers! Thank You sir!" she then reached for her back pocket, and handed him 20 pieces of silver pennies.

"No need... I was just trying to simply help" he said, giving it back to her.

"But I insist sir..." Minerva said, handing it back to him, not breaking her stare.

The beorning then sighed, and then took the money she was handing. "Too much... he said, giving back 15 silver pennies."

"But I insist sir..."

"No... I won't take more for what it's worth... " he said, placing back the extra coin on her palms, and closed it. "If you ever get lost in the forest, remember, just look up." he said, before walking off to another direction. She didn't get what he meant, but maybe later on, it will make sense.

"Thank You sir!" she waved as he walked, and he waved back.

The beorning was right, the Mirkwood forest was dark and deep, and little light peered from above the trees. She felt terrified, and wondered if elves really lived in this area.

She had been going round and round, seeing the same mark she had made on a tree earlier, sighing in resignation, she leaned against the tree to rest, it was an obvious fact that she was lost.

She then took out the soft honey cake from her bag, and gobbled it up, making up for the breakfast she had missed during the morning. Finding it a little rich, specially down the throat, she retrieved the vial that Ulmo had given her, and drank from it, quenching the thirst she felt.

 _"If you ever get lost in the forest, remember, just look up."_ she suddenly remembered what the beorning had said, and wanted to mentally slap herself, upon realizing that she had forgotten to ask his name.

She thought for a while, and looked at the light peering through the thick branches of leaves. There was no view of the sky at all. Suddenly, an idea hit her. With renewed strength and determination, she swung her stuff on her back, and climbed the tall tree to find where the forests ends.

Climbing up all the way, she poked her head above the roof of leaves, and saw all around her, a beautiful view of the sky with hundreds, maybe even thousands of butterflies, and a sea of dark green, ruffles here and there by the breeze. She remembered reading about the species of butterflies at the Valar's library, it looked like 'purple emperor', which could make sense, as the butterfly loves oak woods, but they were not purple at all, rather, they were dark. Dark velvety black without any markings to be seen.

She didn't notice that her skirt had flew up high, as she was wearing thick leggings that was protecting her from the cold and other insect bites. It had been something she was used to doing back at Valinor, wearing leggings, no matter how long her dress was. As it gave her the ability to run freely and climbed trees, without worrying that some _Ellon_ would see her knickers.

She then climbed back down the tree, upon learning that there was some sort of clearing, not far away from where she is.

Walking towards a clear path, a large creature jumped not far away from her.

"Spiders!" she screamed, terrified, as they were many of them, coming towards her.

She did her best to run, but fell down the ground, as she didn't see the root agaisnt her way.

 _"If you find yourself in danger, talk to the trees, though you do not hear them, they will protect you."_ she suddenly remembered the words of Yavanna, before she had sailed away from Valinor. It was not a wish, but rather a promise from her.

She then hugged the tree that was beside her, and pleaded to it. " I am Minerva, maiar of Yavanna... please help me..." she whispered, and to her surprise, the it's branches, and the other trees, blocked the spider's path, shielding her from danger.

Though, the trees protected her against the large spiders, she couldn't stay there the whole time, as she had an important task at hand. It was then that she decided to pick up her bow, and aimed it at the small opening that the trees provided.

She then stretched the string out, and released the arrow, hitting the large spider on the head, instantly killing it. As the arrow buried deep on it's head. It was a skill that Oromë and Tulkas had thought her so well, and now it's paying off.

When one of the large spiders were killed, the rest of them turned angrier, and began attacking the woods that separated her from them. They tried breaking the wooden barrier, by hitting it with their large legs, which terrified her. She then took the opportunity to fire another arrow at another spider who was closest, and this time, it took her two arrows before killing it.

The spiders didn't give up on their assault on the barrier, and one of them successfully broke a side. Fear crept into her as she continued shooting.

It was then when she saw other arrows hitting the spider, she looked up to find a group of elves, approaching her location.

"Elves!" she said gladly, as they come to her aid.

They were shooting here and there, killing a number of spiders. Some took more arrows to brings down, some, needed a sword.

She then decided to help, and asked the trees to loosen their branches and roots, so that she could take a good aim.

Drawing another arrow, from her quiver full of arrows, she then took a quick aim at a large spider, and quickly disabled it before it got any closer to a red-headed elf.

The read-headed elf, appeared to be an elleth, she looked at the dead creature on her feet, and mouthed a word of thanks, before going back to her task of killing the rest of the spiders.

The battle lasted for half an hour, she then fell on her knees at ground, and sighed in relief. It almost gave her a heart attack, but now that she's a Maiar, it's already something so impossible.

It was then when the shocking turn of events came, the arrows that were earlier pointing to the spiders, were now pointing towards her, threatening to shoot her anytime.

"Wh-what... the..."she raised her hands, in complete surrender, telling them that she meant no harm.

"Who are you? and what are you doing in my father's woods?"a handsome blonde elf asked her sternly, pointing the arrow right on her forehead.

"Your father's woods? your Lord Thranduil's son?" she asked, but instead of them lowering their weapons, they stretched the string of their bow further.

"Are you an assassin? how did you get to enter these woods?"

She then eyed at the red-headed elf she had helped earlier on, it also appears that she was the only one whose weapon is not drawn.

"Legolas... please... can you see she means no harm..." the red-haired elleth pushed Legolas' bow away from her face, causing her to sigh in relief.

Legolas then began to examine Minerva, he looked at her from head to toe, and saw that she dark hair, tied into a loose braid. He also noticed that she was wearing a dark dress, and a dark leather cuirass above it. There were also two arm bracers on her arms, with gold intricate drawings of trees for each.

"What are those two trees?" he asked curiously, grabbing her arms roughly.

"Ouch... It's.. it's the two trees of Valinor! Telperion and Laurelin!, I'm sure you've heard of them." she said, feeling a little pain.

He then yanked her back, causing her to be thrown back, but it was a good thing that the red-haired elf caught her.

"T-thank you..." Minerva said, which she had returned with a smile.

"You don't not need to be so violent..." she complained, whilst rubbing her wrist.

"I'm sorry, there were a few assassination attempts that had happened in the past on the king, please forgive the prince and his unwelcoming attitude." the red-haired elf said, apologizing on Legolas' behalf. "I am Tauriel, captain of the guards, this is Prince Legolas Thranduilion..." she said, trying to be nice despite the prince glaring at her.

"I am Minerva Oromëiel, an emissary from the west, I was sent by the Valars..."

Legolas narrowed his eyes on her, and brought his face closer, invading her personal space. "I still do not trusts you... Oromëiel? daughter of Oromë? I do not believe that you are his daughter!"

"I - I was adopted! look if you do not trust me, why don't we do this..."

Minerva then picked up her bow, causing everyone to raise back their weapon against her. But it did not deter her from doing what she was supposed to do.

She then unstringed her bow, and handed it to Legolas, and gave her blades to Tauriel who was on the side.

"Search her!" Legolas was still not convinced.

The elves then began searching her, manhandling her even, whilst searching her backpack. They found nothing but normal everyday necessities, and honey cake that the beorning gave her.

"Please don't take that away... that's the only food I have..." she said, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

"Let's go..." he said, and suddenly ,two guards grabbed her by the arm, as they walk the clear forest path.

"W-Where are we going?"

"To my father, I'll leave it up to him to decide what to do with you..." he said, before turning around, and walking away.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors. Some words to take note of;

 **Beornings** \- They are a race of men that have the ability to change skin, or Skin-Changers. They are very good bakers, and are very much known for their cultivation of honey, and honey-cake. They also live near Mirkwood and Dale, protecting the region from Orcs.

 **Cuirass** \- Is a piece of defensive armor that covers the upper body.

 **Arm Bracers** \- These items are required if archery is involved, it's to protect the archer from the string when releasing the arrow, because during the arrow release, the string bounces back, and slaps the wrist real hard.

 **Telperion and Laurelin** \- Are the two trees of Valinor, one is Silver, the other, Gold, they used to served as the Sun and the Moon, until the dark lord Morgoth destroyed it. It's descendant is the White Tree of Gondor, and by that I'm sure you can imagine how her arm bracers look like.

Alternatively, you can also read my story at WATTPAD, where there are pictures as well.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Halls of the Elven King

**A/N:** In this chapter, Minerva finally meets King Thranduil. Just take note that I will portray him a little differently, compared to how he is portrayed in the movies. The movies portrayed him a little snarky, and stern, without giving much reason, and that's just very unfair. Also, I don't think King Thranduil just sits in his throne the whole day, and drinks his wine. I believe being a King requires a lot of work, especially when managing a kingdom.

Also, I just want to add, that most parts of this story, will be based on the northern war that happened during the war of the ring. And there will be a revelation in this chapter as well.

 _ **FOUR**_

The Great King Thranduil of the Woodland realm, contrary to popular belief, was not the cold and heartless leader that some people believed him to be. The elves that worked in the palace and his son Legolas, know him as kind, patient, and gentle. But often, he had to wear that stern 'mask', in order to be taken seriously, respected, or feared even.

Legolas slowly made it way to his father's study, and knocked three times, before opening the door. A dark wooden desk stood near the large window, and behind it was a large bookshelf, filled with books. There were scrolls, small piles of papers in the corner, that are neatly stacked together.

"I suppose this stacks are done?" Legolas said, looking at the paperwork his father had finished, and stacked neatly on the side.

Thranduil looked up from his work, and replied to his son's question. "Yes... send those to my adviser, would you? _ **Ionneg**_ _?_ "

"Yes I would... but Ada, would you please care to pause from your work a moment, and look at these..."Legolas handed him two bracers that belonged to the new prisoner in the dungeon. They hand an intricate drawings of the two trees, identical to the white tree of Gondor.

"Where did you get these?"he asked, as he examined them.

"The new prisoner from the dungeons... We saw her when we were patrolling the woods for spiders."

"Bring her to me..." with that, King Thranduil picked up his crown that lay atop of his table, and wore it on his head, at the same time, he grabbed his outer robe, and put them on. Legolas watched his father's expression change to the 'Regal, and Stern Mask' he often wore when dealing with very serious matters, like speaking in front of his people or when he passess judgement to criminals.

Legolas opened the door of his study, as the King walked out, heading to the throne room, he quickly followed behind, after closing the door.

* * *

Minerva sat on the stone bench, that was built inside her small cell. The dungeons of mirkwood didn't exactly look as terrifying as she imagined it to be. It was dimly lit with torches, and has countless of stairs, making it look like some sort of maze.

She grabbed the remaining piece of honey cake from her backpack, and gobbled it down with water that the vial had. Tauriel was kind enough to let her keep her backpack and some of the items inside. However, Legolas had forcefully removed her arm bracers, pulling it right off from her arm, causing friction that gave a painful, burning feeling on her skin.

"Minerva..." a soft voice said from the outside, she turned her head to find Tauriel.

"Tauriel? what is it?"she said, looking up to her direction.

She smiled, but then her expression slowly turned sad. "You reminded me of someone when your back was turned... especially that dark hair of yours..." she then took out the keys from her back pocket, and proceeded to open her cell.

Her sad expression then turned to worry. "The king requests your presence at his halls..."

* * *

"Ada... there is something you should know before meeting the prisoner..." Legolas warned, holding his father up, before entering the throne room. However, before he could continue, an adviser cut right through them, pressing other more important matters at hand.

" _ **Ionneg**_... I'll speak with you later... but I will meet with the prisoner first..." he said, before entering the throne room with his adviser.

"But is has to be now..." Thranduil had already entered the throne room, before his son could even finish what he was about to say.

There were a number of elves requesting an audience with the king, wanting to put forwards their petitions, and then there was Tauriel, who stood on the side, waiting to catch his attention. So as promised, he first looked into the matter that Legolas had asked him to prioritize.

"Tauriel... I hear that my son brought a prisoner home, who was wearing these bracers..." he said, showing a pair of armed bracers.

"Yes, my lord, he did..."

"Bring him forth..." he said, assuming it was a 'he'.

A pair of guards brought in a woman in the middle of the throne room, she didn't protest nor fight back, but was rather resigned.

"And who might you be?"

"Minerva, my lord..." the woman was still looking down, perhaps afraid to face him.

"The trees on your bracers, they are similar to the white tree of Gondor... But you don't seem to have come from Gondor... these trees... are the trees of Valinor, am I right?"

"Yes my lord, you are right..."she said meekly, still looking down.

"You do not have pointy ears, yet come from the grey havens, I find that a little puzzling..."he said, examining her. " It's either you're human, or a _peredhil_..."he added. "But I'll assume you're the later, so what's the purpose of a peredhil from valinor, coming here?"

"I... I was sent as an emissary by the Valars to aid in the forthcoming war..."

Everyone mumbled, and let out loud whispers, upon the mention of war. It had almost been fifteen years since they fought in the battle of the five armies. And to elves, it is still quite fresh in mind, as they view time differently.

"What is this war you speak of?" he asked, still taken aback with her announcement.

"A shadow grows in the east, my lord... the Valars have foreseen it... The ring, the ring of power is working hard to find its way back into the hands of the dark lord. "

"Enough!" his voice boomed throughout the whole room, he didn't want his fellow kin to hear about the 'shadow'. As a king he didn't want them to worry, especially not at time like this, when they are currently rebuilding. "Who are you really?" the King's voice hardened. "Look at me when I speak to you."

Minerva reluctantly obeyed, and found herself in awe of his beauty, as she gazed up to the elven king.

The elven king was also in awe of her, and how she strongly resembled someone from his past. He stared hard at her, to make sure he wasn't seeing some sort of illusion, and convinced himself that it wasn't that particular person.

Everyone fell into silence, as they watched them stare at each other. There was an unknown tension in the room.

"I... I am Minerva, a maiar of-"

"A maiar?" he narrowed his eyes on her, as he got down the small staircase, and circled around her. "A maiar you say? why do you not posses the power that wizards have? If you are a maiar, then why do you not try to make a quick escape? I'm sure you can." he somewhat taunted.

"I am not one of the Istaris my lord... though I posses some of their power, most of mine differs from them..." she explained.

He nodded, before retreating back to his throne. "This is not the time, nor place to discuss of this matter, not in front of other elves." he said, as he sat back down his throne. "I will hear and take care of petitions this whole afternoon." he told everyone who was present in his great halls. "And as for you, I will let you go for now. But you are to stay here, and cannot leave the borders of the kingdom. We will resume discussing these matters later on." he said, and motioned for Tauriel to uncuff her wrist.

* * *

Minerva sat outside the gardens, hugging her backpack to her chest. She didn't exactly know what to do, or where to go, as she was afraid of getting lost, as the palace is very big. She'd rather wait for the King's summon, than get lost in the palace while exploring.

"My lady?" a voice from behind said, making turn towards its direction. She felt a little terrified, upon learning that the voice belonged to the Prince.

"Please do not be scared, I mean you no harm now..." he said, worriedly, looking at her terrified expression. "I'm sorry of what had happened earlier on... There are people who pretend to be like you when they enter our borders, and in the end, they are actually assassins, sent to kill my father."

She eyed him warily, before letting her guard down.

"That's alright... you're just doing your job then... You're forgiven..." she said.

Legolas smiled, and examined the features of her face, causing her to feel awkward with the way he stared.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"It's quite astonishing... really... now that I see your full face in the daylight..." he said.

"W-what's astonishing?"

"It would be easier to show you, than explain."

"Alright..."she said, moving further, at the edge of the stone bench, inviting him to sit down on the empty space beside her.

"Uhhmm... I was hoping you'd follow me, I promise, I am not going to hurt you in any way, or throw you back to the dungeons, if that's what you're thinking."

She eyed him warily once more, before standing up from her seat. "Alright... lead the way..." she thought it would be better to follow him, rather than sitting on the bench, doing nothing.

The Prince Legolas lead her through a maze of countless turns, rooms and hallways, until they reached a large door, with intricate carvings.

"Come in..." he motioned for her to come inside the room. "Welcome to my study..."

The room was large, but felt warm and homey, the light from the large glass window, bathed the room with light. There was an oak table on one side, and behind it, was a painting.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, that she dropped her bag in the floor, upon seeing the painting.

The painting was of a beautiful elven woman, and what's scary about it, was how the woman and her shared the same features. They looked exactly alike, except the fact that she has golden hair , which is an big contrasts to Minerva's ebony black hair.

"This... This couldn't get any weirder..." she said, as her brows furrowed at the painting.

"Imagine it for me. Meeting your own mother long after she's passed away..."he said, staring at the painting as well.

"B-but Prince Legolas... I-I'm not your mother..." she said, feeling weird with all that has occurred just now. She found it impossible that she is someone's mother, heck, she never even got pregnant her whole life, and gave birth.

"I have an explanation for that, but seeing the expression on your face, I will give you the space that you need, to think and clear your mind. This is something that you won't be able to comprehend right now." Legolas said, before she got out of the door, and walked along the hallways, in daze.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors, I don't notice them, especially when I get excited in writing. Well... I hope you enjoyed that revelation.

 _ **Ionneg -**_ _My Son_

 _ **Peredhil -**_ _Half -Elf, well known elves who carry this title are Elrond, his sons, and his daughter Arwen._


	5. Chapter 5 - The Past

**Chapter 5 - The Past**

 **A/N:** Some of the elements in the story will be based on similar events that had happened in The Silmarillion, and The Return of the more important note, this is just fanfiction that I am trying my best to align with the movie and the book. Please do not bully writers in this website just because you do not like their story, do not bully them into writing what you want. That's their story, and you can't do anything about it because IT ISN'T YOURS, **IT'S THEIRS!** So if you do not like it, please move to another story, don't get personal and throw vulgarities. Same applies to me.

 ** _FIVE_**

Minerva leaned on the wall, and slid against it and down on the floor, trying to comprehend how is it possible that she bore a strong resemblance to the woman in the portrait. Were the Valars aware of it? Is this why they had sent her to the North? There were so many questions in her head right now, that it gave her a headache. The Queen's deep-set eyes of color blue, her thick yet nicely shaped eyebrows, her dainty nose, high cheekbones, pouty lips, and her teardrop shaped face, were so similar to hers, that if she were to stand next to the painting, people can mistake them for twins, or Minerva for the Queen. The only difference they had are the ears and the hair colour. While the Queen had golden hair and pointy ears, Minerva has dark tresses and round ears. It was as if the late Queen was day, and Minerva was night. No wonder why King Thranduil looked at her as if he was seeing a ghost.

"My lady? are you alright?" a familiar voice said, which made her look up. Her brows furrowed upon finding out that it belonged to Legolas.

She ignored him and continued to look at the empty space of the hallway. Legolas was so worried with the way she took the news, that he immediately followed her, when she left the study.

"I'm sorry... I should've not told you..." he said, trying to pull her up back her feet.

"W-what... what happened to her?"

"Sorry?"

"What happened to the Queen? What happened to your mother?" she asked, still staring at the empty space.

Legolas looked at her, evoking a sense of sadness in his expression. "It's a long story my lady..."

Minerva stood up from the cold stone floor "Tell me..." she said, walking ahead of him, still in daze.

"In an earlier age, the elves waged war on Angmar. My mother died on that war, there is no grave, no memory, nothing. My father didn't tell me anything, until I returned from the North." He began.

* * *

 _-FLASHBACK-_

The Elven banners waved against the wind, as the great elven army marched behind the King and Queen of Greenwood, heading towards the foul place called Gundabad.

The elves were tired of the growing darkness that plague them, that they all agreed once and for all, to end the threat. Elves from kingdoms not far from Greenwood gave their support, sending aid to help with the war against Gundabad.

The Queen then blew her horn, and the others had followed her lead, creating a terrifying sound to the enemy, signifying the start of war. As the horses charged towards the enemy, the dark creatures felt terrified as the elven troops delivered a fatal blow to each and every orc that was on the way. The enemy had obviously underestimated the Queen of Greenwood, mistaking her to be a delicate female warrior, who can't do much, when in reality, she is a force to be reckoned with, and the number of lifeless orc bodies that she had slaughtered was enough proof.

Victory was near...

Until an unearthly shriek was heard, and large black figure emerged from the dark gates of Gundabad, it was none other than the Witch-King of Angmar. All of them felt terrified, including the orcs, despite him being their master.

He killed each and every elf that was on the way, and one by one, those who tried to challenge him fell and died trying. The troops slowly backed away, ready to retreat anytime when the commander orders.

But the Queen, valiant and unafraid of toil, charged towards the Witch-King, and fought with him with all her might, and with new found strength and morale given by the Queen, the elves fought like madmen, dwindling the dark forces of Gundabad.

Thranduil, aided his wife, by firing arrows from afar to distract the Witch-King, others followed. His wife needed him, seeing that she was about to reach exhaustion. He ordered some of them to keep firing to distract and prevent the witch king from hurting the Queen, as he ran to aid his wife.

Glorfindel followed behind Thranduil, also worried for the safety of his cousin; the Queen of Greenwood. Despite delivering fatal damage on the witch king, the Queen _Vanamalthenniel,_ was in point of exhaustion, and the Witch took advantage of this. Someone has to get her out of there, and take her place soon.

However, the unexpected happened.

Everyone's eyes widened, as the blade of the witch king pierced their Queen on the chest.

" A' maelamin!" Thranduil screamed, as he hastened his pace.

The blade hasn't fully pierced her body, but it distanced her from her enemy. She tried to push the blade back, trying to remove her body from it and seeing the Queen struggle, made the Witch King threw back his head laughing, a laugh that cause, even his own minions to shake in fear.

"There is no opponent in this battlefield who is worth my measure, You came close, Queen of Greenwood, but not enough..."

The Queen gave a smile, and the Witch King felt a little afraid, with the way her smile looked.

With all her strength, Queen Vanamalthenniel pushed herself against the blade, impaling herself in the process, just to reach the witch king, that took him by surprise, as she stabbed him in between his shoulders and neck, with the small _barrow blade_ that she had quickly unsheathed. Though it did not kill the Witch King, it injured him gravely, bringing him to his knees.

The elves watched in horror, at the sacrifice that the Queen had just made. Thranduil and Glorfindel felt the rush of adrenaline and hastened their pace, seeing what she had just done.

"You are a fool for a Queen... what did I just say about nobody being able to kill me?" he said,

" _Filth of Angmar... There will be others who will come after me, and rise against you... and they will bring you your demise_ " she said, with all the strength she had left, coughing blood in the process. _"Your... your demise... though your demise will not come from the hands of an elf, or a man, it will inevitably come to you, defeat and humiliation will come to you one day, and it will come from someone unexpected."_ she laughed hysterically, which made the witch king feel terrified. What terrified him was though she was already dying, she still found the strength to laugh, and speak of his demise. And what terrified him the most, was how she spoke of his defeat.

She then buried the _barrow blade_ deeper through his shoulders, still with the disturbing smile on her face.

Thranduil and Glorfindel stood there in horror, they heard everything she had just said, but left it be, as it is not their current concern. They thought of ways to get to her, remove her out of the battlefield safely, and try to heal her of her injuries. However, they thought of it carefully, as one wrong move can end her life altogether.

Seeing Thranduil and Glorfindel on the side, and despite being the all powerful witch king that he is, he was afraid of Glorfindel. With all his remaining strength, he removed the _barrow blade_ from his shoulder, and retreated in defeat, and rode his fell beast that waited for him on the side.

With all the strength she could muster, she shouted her final battle cry" _Maeth till i-medui! Vaqie ië hol!_ " before falling on her knees.

With renewed strength, the elves answered to her battle cry, and went berserk from there, further dwindling the number of orcs.

Thranduil immediately rushed to his wife's side, and with the help of Glorfindel, removed the spear that impaled her. She was still alive, but was very weak due to the large amount of blood that she had lost.

"We will get you out of here... please stay with me _A' maelamin..."_ he said, as she pulled her body closer.

"Thranduil... please..."she said weakly, cupping his face, and staining it with her own blood.

"You should have not done that, why? why must you?" he said, tears sliding down his cheek.

"For you, and for the little one..." she smiled, remembering their son that they had left back home. "I am sorry... Sorry that I won't be there to watch him grow into a fine young elf, but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand one day that it is for everyone, especially for you and him. Because I love you both, more than my own life itself."

"Shhh... don't speak of such things... you'll be alright, we've already called for the healer."

"I do not have much time Thranduil, please listen to me."

"No!" he said, trying to fight tears from falling further.

"Please..." she pleaded.

"No... we've called for a healer to come here..."

"Glorfindel..." she called for her cousin, who immediately rushed beside her. "You will foresee what I saw one day..." she said, referring the vision she had seen during her battle with the witch king.

Glorfindel looked confused, but left it be, his concern was how to prolong the Queen's life, so that they may still be able to save her.

She then turned to Thranduil. "My love, please fulfill my final wish... cremate my body, and scatter my ashes into the sea... and the _jewel_ you had made for me? use it as something to remember me by."

"No... don't speak of such Vanamalthenniel _..."_ he said, as she weakly nodded.

" _Le melin..." she said weakly, her eyelids slowly closing._

"I love you too..." he whispered back.

"I feel sleepy..." she said.

"Then rest... for a while." he said.

She smiled weakly, before closing her eyes.

The healer, who happens to be Elrond, came soon afterwards, ready to pull her out of the victorious battlefield, with very few of the enemy's forces left. However, when the Elrond went to check her pulse, his expression turned horrified, upon learning that it was gone.

Elrond's expression turned grief-stricken, as a tear rolled down from his eyes. It was then that Thranduil and Glorfindel realized, that the Queen has already passed.

Thranduil cried in anguish, as he held on tightly to his wife's lifeless body. Though victory was achieved that day, they had lost their Queen.

 _-END OF FLASHBACK-_

* * *

"Though victory was achieved that day, it was at the expense of the Queen's life... and after many years, it is disheartening that the fortress of Gundabad fell into the hands of the enemy once again. " he said, ending the story.

Minerva looked at him sadly, before tapping his shoulder, trying her best to give him some comfort.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors, I get so engrossed that I miss those errors.

 **Just take note of the following:**

A' maelamin - My Love

Maeth till i-medui! Vaqie ië hol! - Fight til the end! Victory is near! (Battle cry)

Le Melin - I love you

I tried to align some of the elements from the books and the movies with this chapter. Let's start with the timeline;

-The witch king came to Angmar at around T.A. 1300, Glorfindel and the witch king fought against each other at around T.A. 1975. So I'm placing this battle in this fanfiction in between **T.A. 1300 - T.A. 1975.**

-Legolas just came back from the north recently (In this story)

-Legolas had mentioned about his mother when he was spying at angmar, there was no body, so I just tried to be positive, and had Thranduil fulfill her request of cremating her and scatter her ashes at the sea.

-The jewels I was referring to was the one that the previous king of erebor refused to hand over to Thranduil. I am just elaborating on that part so that the fanfiction will align with that part of the movie and book.

\- I made the Queen, Glorfindel's relative, just to justify and add on to his anger towards the witch king, and to align with the _Battle of Fornost,_ which I plan on including and writing in the next chapters.

-I made her predict the demise of the witch king in the hands of Eowyn and Merry first, and Glorfindel (during flashback) will be shown that vision as well.

\- The barrow blades are special types of swords in the book, that is enchanted with the power to harm the Witch-King of Angmar.


	6. Chapter 6 - Visitors from Imladris

**A/N:** More drama, and explanations in this chapter.

 _ **SIX**_

It had been days since she had last spoken to the King, it had also been days since he promised to speak with her, regarding the matter of war. However, not once did he summon her.

She had been sitting idle for days, and it annoyed her that Thranduil seems to not be taking her seriously, as if her opinion didn't matter. She wasn't sent here to sit idly and nap the whole day. No, she was sent here to warn and aid them.

Sometimes Legolas would make excuses for his father, saying that the King is busy, which is very true, but couldn't he spare a minute or two just to listen to her?

Her thoughts was then distracted by a soft knock on the door. She looked to her side, realizing that it's either the guards or Legolas, taking her for the normal afternoon stroll, they must've read her mind that she was getting bored.

"Come in..." she said, as the door opened to reveal Legolas, and two other elves. One has golden hair, and the other has dark ones.

"So it is true! the rumours were true!" The one with the golden haired eyed her intensely, before enveloping her into a tight embrace, which made her feel very awkward.

She gave Legolas a questioning look, whilst slightly tapping the strange elf's back, awkwardly trying to return his affection.

"The Valar has sent you back!" the dark haired one said, ecstatic.

"I- I'm sorry... I do not recognize, or know any of you..." she said, truthfully, which almost threw both elves off balance.

"What do you mean?" The golden-haired said, looking at her worriedly, and then turning to Legolas, waiting for an answer.

"She doesn't remember anything..."Legolas simply stated, making both elves furrow their brows.

"I am Glorfindel... your cousin, and this is Elrond, Lord of Rivendell... you were the godmother of his children."

"I... I what?" Minerva looked at them, confused. "I know Glorfindel, the slayer of the Balrog... And Lord Elrond, son of Eärendil."

"Aye, I am that Glorfindel..." Glorfindel said, and as he and Elrond's expression turned hopeful.

"But... But I do not know that he is my cousin, nor am I a godmother of children... I don't recall such things you see... "

"She says she's Rosamund Harris, before she became Minerva, she does not remember herself being the Queen." Legolas added, and looked down sadly. "The first time I saw her, I thought she did some witchcraft to look like my Nanneth, but as I saw her closely... the resemblance is so strong, it's hard to deny that it's not her, except the dark hair and round ears."

She eyed Legolas, sadly. It seems that he still thinks that she is his late mother, despite telling him that she isn't.

"I myself died, and had been re-embodied with the similar body and memories that I had from my previous life... But... but I don't know... Vanamalthenniel's case is the first I've seen. An elf queen, re-born as a human, rather a maiar... with an appearance that slightly differs from her previous life."

Glorfindel kneeled down in front of her, and looked into her eyes.

"Rosamund is it?" he asked.

"Yes..."

"Look at me..." he said gently, which she willingly obliged.

It was then that Glorfindel attempted to look inside her memories. There was darkness, disappointments, emotional and physical abuse, sadness, and betrayal. It pained his heart, seeing what her life was as Rosamund Harris, that a single tear slid down from his eye, out of sympathy.

"You've been through a lot..." Glorfindel said, as he held her hand, and squeezed it. She nodded in return, not knowing how to respond, as she had already shown him her memories.

"What did you see Glorfindel?" Elrond asked.

"Her life..."

"So is she really Rosamund Harris?" Legolas asked.

"Yes she is... But she is Vanamalthenniel as well... and in time, she will remember..." he said, getting up from his knees.

"But why can't she remember now?" Legolas said, and there was a bit of impatience with his tone. It was obvious that the prince wanted his mother back.

"Legolas... do not force her..." Elrond said.

"She is no longer what she used to be. She is a completely different person. But she is Vanamalthenniel, Rosamund, and Minerva, all at the same time. "

"What are you trying to say? You're saying she's my mother, yet at the same time you're saying that she isn't? This is confusing!"

"Calm down Prince Legolas..." Elrond said, pushing the prince slightly back, preventing a fight from happening.

"This is not the place to discuss such matters, and not in front of Vanamalthenniel..." Elrond said, pointing at the scared and confused, expression that Minerva wore on her face. She was clutching Glorfindel's shoulder, trying to pull him aside, and prevent a fight from occurring as well.

After Legolas has calmed down, all of them had left the room to discuss the matter somewhere else, leaving her alone, once again. Which irritated her, as Legolas had promised to take her to the gardens today.

It was then that she decided, that she would go and explore the palace with or without Legolas and the guards.

She then grabbed her coat that lay atop her bed, and wore it, before heading out of her room, and began exploring the palace.

The hallways of the palace looked majestic with its high intricate ceilings of stone, and wood. She never grew tired of admiring them, despite seeing them almost everyday, when the guards or Legolas take her around the palace.

She continued walking down the hallway, turning left and right, until she reached a large peculiar door, with intricate carvings. It was something she hadn't chance upon during tour around the palace, as the place was too big, and one day isn't enough to explore it.

Coming closer to the large oak doors, she stretched out her hand, and touched its intricate carvings, that reminded her of a beautiful tapestry. However, she accidentally pushes it open, revealing the doors to be unlocked.

Out of curiosity of what's on the other side of the door, she pushed the door open and entered the room, without thinking that somebody might be inside.

She then found herself in a large study, with beautiful furniture, neatly stacked amount of paperworks and scroll and a large collection of books inside the bookshelf, behind the large desk. There was a matching sofa and beautiful fireplace on the living room area. On top of the fireplace, were small, yet beautiful sculptures made out of porcelain, and a little higher than that, was a portrait of a woman, who bore a strong resemblance to her.

 _It couldn't be this room, no way._

She then turned to her side to find a small entrance that lead to a work area. There, she found wrapped canvases, and beautiful paintings, finished and unfinished ones, that the art stand held. And along with it were numerous art tools and supplies.

One painting that caught her attention, was beautiful rough sketch of the late queen.

The painter sure did capture the crinkle of her eyes and mouth when she smiled. It was an obvious fact, that whoever drew this, held so much love for the queen.

She immediately left the 'art' room, and went back outside the main room, which was the study. And there, came some sort of smell that emitted from another door that she hasn't explored.

 _Wait? Sweet buttery smell? pies? pot pies?_

She suddenly found herself hungry, and walked towards the door where the smell was coming from. Pushing the door open, she found herself inside a small kitchenette, with a stove- oven and sink. There were jars of condiments, preserved food, so as utensils on the shelves, and small ice cabinet that is used to preserve perishable foods.

She then turned to her side, to find the Elven King, wearing a dark apron around his waist, and red colored baking mittens. On his hand was a freshly baked pie, that emitted a delicious aroma throughout the room.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she yelped in surprise.

He merely raised an eyebrow, as he placed the freshly baked pie on the small table. It appears that he had just finished baking.

"I should be the one asking that question. What are you doing here?" He said, as he took a knife from the drawers and sliced the pie into equal portions.

"Sorry, My Lord, I didn't know this was your room... I was just merely exploring the palace, when I happen to see the carving at your door."

He completely ignored her, and got some small plates from the drawer.

"And... My lord, you haven't summoned me for days. I have been wanting to speak to you." she said, taking the chance.

She was met by silence from the Elven King, further infuriating her. She then sighed in resignation, before turning around and walking away. It seems like the Elven King had no plans of listening to her.

He then pulled the chair, and called her. "Please sit down Lady Minerva." he said, sounding more like a command, than a request.

She then reluctantly obeyed, and watched him place a slice of pie on the empty plate.

"Did you mean what you said about the war..."

"Yes... though it won't occur now, the days for immortals alike, is different. We must prepare..."

He then pushed the plate of pie towards her, and place a fork on the side.

"Please eat."

"T-thank you..." she said, as she inhaled the delicious aroma of the food before her. She then forked out a piece, and ate it. The taste was rather exceptional, causing her to finish the pie rather quickly, and wanting another piece.

Thranduil sat back in his chair, after placing another piece of pie on her plate. He watched her every movement, finding some similarity with his late wife.

She was wearing a dark green dress with a boat neckline, that showed her chiseled shoulders, and collarbone. Her hair was pulled into a low and loose bun, but neatly tied and parted equally. Her ears and neck were adorned with gold jewelry, and her face had a slight touch of makeup in them, a dust of blush on her cheeks and light colored lip rouge on her pouty lips, which enhanced her features. He figured out that this must've been Legolas doing, as it was highly possible that he had asked the palace's in-house stylist to do this, trying to at least recover a part of his mother, even if it was just on a physical aspect.

The resemblance was strong, if not for the color of her tresses, and the ears. He wanted to almost take her into his arms, to hold her, and kiss her there. However, he quickly got rid of the thought, and reminded himself that she was no longer 'her'.

"You were saying something about a war..." he said, going back to the main focus.

"Yes... Sauron has began his move, carefully laying his plans well..."

"And how do you know of this?" he asked.

"Through Oromë who still hunted the forest of Arda on occasion."

"The Vala of hunt..."

"Yes..."

He stood up and walked towards the large window, that had the view of the whole town.

"Sauron's allies are also powerful and when the stroke falls, it will not only fall upon those lands near Mordor. The North will feel his wrath as well.

"You're afraid that the dark lord will bring war on our doorstep."

"Yes... and it isn't the first time it happens..." she said, referring to the battle of the five armies. "Dol Gurdul hasn't been exactly cleansed of its darkness. You are aware of this, I believe. The three Nazguls have reoccupied the old elven fortress. Sauron has already declared himself openly."

Thranduil was silent, and was staring at the open door behind her, which also made her do the same. Only to find the three elves whom she had been speaking to earlier; Glorfindel, Elrond and Legolas.

"I believe that you've heard everything..." Thranduil said, turning to them.

"But without his ring of power, he cannot do much..." Glorfindel reasoned.

"But what happens if he finds it?" Elrond added.

All fell silent with what Elrond had just said, not knowing what to exactly answer.

"As what Minerva had said, we are to prepare of what may come. Whether it be soon or later..."

After that heavy discussion about the dark lord, Legolas had suggested to take Minerva on a trip on the great market of Mirkwood, or even the great market that lies in between between Dale and Erebor, for a change of scenery, despite him not really liking the dwarves.

However, Elrond suggested the later, as a change of scenery for her. They travelled there in two small carriages, one for Glorfindel and Elrond, and another for her and Legolas.

"I haven't seen my father bake in quite a long time..." Legolas recalled, breaking the silence that they had within carriage.

"You mean he liked to bake?" she said, surprised that a proud and high elven lord liked to bake.

"Yes... I believed he had stopped baking, painting, gardening, and all his other hobbies after my Nana died. But today, I find out he has started doing this things all over again." Legolas looked at her happily, implying that she might have something to do with it.

Before she could say anything, the carriage came into a stop.

"We're here..." he said, alighting out of the carriage first and held the door open for her.

She smiled and looked at Dale's 'great' market, in awe.

"They have already rebuilt the whole city, and restored it, to its former glory."Legolas explained, as they walked along the crowded street.

"We will have an early dinner, and after these, we will head to meet the King of Dale for supper..."

She nodded in agreement, feeling a little hungry. The first few stalls she saw offered produce, meats, pastries, candies,spices, and spirits. Legolas had mentioned a very delectable wine called 'Dorwinion' which his father favoured, he added the fact that it was so strong, that even an elf would fall asleep, after drinking a few goblets.

"Then we should get two bottles of that wine you mentioned, one for the King of Dale and one for your father when we return back." she suggested.

"Aye, that is a good idea..." Legolas smiled, as they entered the shop that sold Dorwinion wine.

"Two bottles please..." she said, as she passed 20 pieces of silver pennies. Elrond and Glorfindel bought as well, As Dorwinion wine is hard to import to Rivendell.

The lady tending to the shop, smiled at her, as she gave a fabric wine bag, that secured the two bottles of wine in place, which she found quite ingenious.

Afterwards, Legolas lead them further down the market, where she found a bakery, that had many patrons. The sugary sweet smell of freshly baked pastries invaded her nostrils, she then walked to the small bakery and found a familiar face.

There were beornings. A number of them tending to the shop, she shouldn't be surprise at all, as Dale is considered a melting pot of the northern region.

"Hello..." she said, trying to catch the attention of the familiar Beorning.

"Ah... My Lady, it is you again, I see..." he greeted, and smiled at her. "I am glad that you had arrived in Mirkwood safely." he added seeing her companions, and recognizing the prince as one of them.

"I just followed what you said...Which is to look up when I get lost, though, I literally had to climb the trees. "

The beorning and her both laughed.

"I have forgotten to ask your name?" she asked.

"Beran, and you my lady?"

"Minerva..." she said, as she stretched out her hand for a handshake, which Beran took gladly with his large hand that felt warm, and shook hers earnestly.

"I'll be buying two boxes of honey cakes..." she requested

"All right then" he said asking the one of his assistants to pack her cakes.

She looked around to find the bakery almost out of bread, as the shelves were being emptied by patrons alike. Which further proves that the Beornings are good bakers.

Beran then handed her a brown paper bag which contained her cakes wrapped in brown paper, tied with a string, and two cinnamon rolls.

She then paid for her purchases, and added a few coins for the cinnamon rolls.

"The cinnamon rolls are on the house my lady..." Beran said, returning the extra coins she gave.

"Thank You, I'd definitely come again..." she said, whilst smelling two cinnamon rolls, wanting to eat it right there.

"Yes... I'll see you again my lady..." he said, seeing her off, before turning back to his work.

They continued walking around the great market, and it seems that Elrond and Glorfindel had more purchases than she has, judging from the bags they carried, and it looked much more expensive.

Elrond then stopped to find a spinning & weaving shop, selling exquisite tapestries with complicated patterns.

They then entered the shop and found the interior and furniture to be in the hues of brown. There were baskets, tapestries, carpets, different types of cloth, yarns and strings. Elrond and Glorfindel went to look at the Tapestries, deciding on which to buy. Whilst her and Legolas stood there looking at the different types of cloth.

Legolas grabbed the dark silver one, as the colour is what his father favoured.

She then went on to purchase a great number of different types of strings and yarns.

"You like weaving my lady?" Legolas said, looking at the amount of string she purchased.

"Yes... It was one of my daily activities during the afternoon. I quite missed it..." she said, placing the strings on the counter, and paid for it.

"Who taught you?" Legolas asked curiously, as he remembered that his mother never weaved.

"Vairë..."

Legolas gave her knowing smile, impress with who her teacher was. "The Vala of weaving..."

"Yes..."

"Then I would have a weaving machine setup on your chambers once we return..."

"Thank You Legolas..."

"And I would also like to see your work once you finish." he said, as he opened the door for her.

"That is not a problem..." she said, whilst turning to Elrond, seeing that he bought two tapestries. It seems that the two elves were rather on a shopping spree.

"Don't judge us, we barely get the time to shop..." Glorfindel said, jesting.

Once they left the shop, they continued on walking around the crowded street of the great market, still looking for rare finds that they can take home.

A few minutes later, Legolas then turned to his side, to find Minerva gone.

His brows furrowed in worry as he realized, that he had lost sight of her.

Minerva looked around, to find herself lost among a sea of crowds. She turned to her side to find the three elves, no longer there. They must've separated somewhere without noticing.

She tried to think where she had last seen them, and maybe head back to the area. Only to find that she had walked further, and was completely not knowing where she exactly is.

She looked to her side to find Dwarves busy bantering over some type of blueprint. She would've asked for directions, but out of curiosity, her inner designer took over, taking a quick peek at the blueprint without them noticing her presence.

She looked over to discover that it looked like a secret passage from the palace of dale to the dwarven halls. There were some mistakes here and there, but she understood it clearly that is was some sort of escape route for the townspeople when the city gets attacked.

They were still busy arguing, when she looked to her side to find a ruler and pencil. Though she was not an architect, she had studied the basics of it, as part of her design degree back in university. An escape route can never have only one exit, nor can it be too narrow. What if a stampede happens?

So she did what every designer would do, she picked up the pencil and made amends to the blueprints.

"Excuse my lady? what are you doing?" a very distress voice said, upon seeing what she was doing with the blueprints, and soon, a number of heavy footsteps came rushing towards her.

To her surprise, they didn't push or drag her away, but rather, out of sheer curiosity that every designer has, looked at the amendments that she drew. And much to her surprise, they actually agreed amongst each other, and found her amendments feasible.

"Ah! this is good!" one of the dwarves said, pointing at the sketches on the blueprints that she had made.

They then all turned towards her.

"And who might you be my lady? You don't seem to be an ordinary one, nor are you from these city."

"I'm Minerva... master dwarves..." she said, referring to all of them. "And I am lost..." she said, whilst re-adjusting the purchases she had on her grasp. "I saw your blue prints, and found it a little intriguing... and I..."

"Like a true craftsman, you couldn't help but amend it..." one of them said, continuing her sentence.

It was true that only a craftsman would understand another craftsman, and that was the same for her and the dwarves.

"If I may ask, why are you only creating secret passages now? why not before?"

"We're only able it to create now, as we waited for Dale and Erebor to restore itself to its former glory. If you remember the battle of the five armies, most of the town people didn't have any safe escape route, so most of them perished and died during the battle." One of them said, and motioned for her to follow them, and join them for a walk.

"Where was the last place you remember? we'll take you there..."

"I went to the Weaving shop..."

"Which one?" one of them asked. "There's a number of weaving shops in the area."

"A few blocks after the shop that sells Dorwinion wine..."

"Uhhmmm... you have to be more specific my lady, there's lots of stores that sell Dorwinion here..."

It was then that she felt like a toddler that was lost in a mall. It had happened to her when she was young, only that no one was there to help her, and the police had to send her back home, as no one picked her up from the kids area. She suddenly felt sad, recalling her childhood.

"I forgot to ask your names..." she said, shaking the sad thought off her head.

"I am Dain Ironfoot and this is Gloin and his son Gimli, and Balin." He said, introducing himself, as well as his companions. They gave a slight bow, which she returned as a sign of respect.

"Dain Ironfoot? the King under the mountain?"

"Yes! "

"But what is a great Dwarven King doing in Dale? shouldn't he be in the great halls of Erebor."

"Aye, but Dain here wanted to oversee the plans... he's a bit of a control freak." Gloin said, in jest, receiving a slight slap on his shoulder from Dain.

They continued walking along the stone cobbled pathway of the market, when a voice behind them suddenly spoke.

"Dain? who's your friend?

She turned around to find a good looking man, ruggedly handsome, although he was already old. His face looked like it has hardened over the years, and the grey streaks on his dark shoulder length hair made him look more dignified. He has a neatly trimmed beard and forest green eyes that any woman can get lost in, just by staring at them. She wanted to nickname him _**Silverfox**_ _,_ right then and there.

"I know, he's handsome despite the old age eh!" Balin teased, which made her blush.

The man then turned towards her expectantly.

"I am Minerva my lord, and I lost my way around the market, and I couldn't find my companions"

"Would you kindly help this young lady Bard?"

"Yes I would..." he said, stretching his hand out, and assisted her up on his horse, and then checked the tack and smoothed her skirt, like a gentleman would.

She then blush profusely with what he had done, no, she never had a man assist her up on a horse before, nor smoothen her skirt.

"You look like no one has done this for you before..." Bard said.

"Y-yes..." she stuttered.

"You're making the girl blush Bard!" Gloin teased.

Bard chuckled and turned back to her. " It's a man's duty to a lady into the saddle and smoothen her skirt."

"Aye..." The dwarves agreed in unison.

"I guess I will see you again my lady?" Dain said.

"Ofcourse!" she smiled at the dwarves, and waved, as Bard mounted the horse and sat behind her.

She did read before somewhere, that a gentleman should have a lady ride in front if they're sharing a horse. It was an actual equestrian etiquette. But she couldn't help but blush, realizing how close she was to him. Maybe to him, it was something very normal, but to her, it was something new, and something she isn't used to.

"Would you kindly send me to the King's home, I was suppose to go there for early supper, my companions would probably be there by now." she asked nicely, breaking the awkward silence.

Bard looked at her knowingly, and smiled. "Alright..." he said, as he had the horse slowly increase its pace, and then a few seconds later, began galloping along the cobbled streets of Dale.

Bard seemed to have taken them into a shortcut, as the streets that they have passed by were almost empty.

"Are these part of the great market?" she asked curiously.

"No, it's a different road altogether." he added.

They then came into a stop, and finally arrived in front of beautiful house which strongly reminded her of a spanish colonial architecture with some moorish architectural traditions.

"Is this the King's home?"

"Yes it is..." he said, as he first dismounted.

"It's beautiful..." she said, finding it different from the palace of Mirkwood which was very grand. " It is simple... yet elegant..." she added, whilst looking around.

She then turned to him, and smiled. "Thank you my lord..."

"You're welcome..." he said, and returned the smile, causing her to blush a bit. "Why don't you go in, your companions must be inside, waiting for you..."

She nodded, before turning around, and entering the courtyard that the place had, but before doing that, she turned around wanting to see Bard one last time. Much to her disappointment, she found that he had already left.

She sighed in disappointment, before heading to the main door of the King's home. Although she didn't want to admit it, she might have develop some sort of crush towards the old man, rather the _Silverfox,_ despite him being old enough to be his father or grandfather. However, she couldn't help but analyze if it had something to do with her daddy issues, or that the old man is just good looking with strong gentleman qualities.

She shook the thought off her head, and entered the large oak doors.

"Where have you been?" Legolas said, as he approached her, his expression relieved.

"I- I got lost... I'm sorry if I had you worried..." she said apologetically.

"That's alright, what matters is now you're here and safe!" Elrond added.

"The King's men had looked all over for you though..." Legolas added.

"Oh... I hope they have returned back."

"Yes they did, they returned quite early, and what had me worried was that they couldn't find you." Legolas said.

"Of course they'll have a hard time finding her, all you said was a woman with dark hair, and dressed in green." Elrond teased, causing Glorfindel to chuckle.

They continued walking along the beautiful hallway filled with paintings and sculptures, until they came into a stop, in front of a large double door.

"The throne room?" she asked.

"Yes..." Elrond said.

She then stood up straight and smoothed her skirt.

They entered slowly as the doors opened, revealing the throne room. They all bowed as a sign of respect, before greeting the King before them.

She then looked up to find none other than Bard himself, sitting on the throne. She wanted to mentally slap herself, not realizing earlier that he was actually the King, and that she had shared a horse with him.

"King Bard... slayer of the dragon smaug..." she said, as he smiled widely he her. She smiled back in return, and couldn't be more impressed, recalling his valiant deeds, weaved in the tapestries of Vairë.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors. There are few things that I just want to clarify with you.

-I'll explain as the story progresses, with what happened wit her re-embodiment, to why she became a human/maiar instead of an elf.

-I'm sorry for bringing out Thranduil's 'inner' Ned. I just couldn't help it. (LOL)

-Next is the issue of Sauron reappearing in Dol Guldur. They were driven out from Dol Guldur during TA 2941, but Sauron declared himself openly in TA 2951, and sent three Nazguls to reoccupy Dol Guldur.

\- I had her befriend the dwarves for later reasons in the story.

-Silverfox means (for those of you who do not know) - An attractive older man with gray, white or silver hair

-I have strong reasons to make her like Bard (more to do with the issues of her past life, and etc...), and I'll be using it on the story later on. But do not worry, her story is still with Thranduil.


	7. Chapter 7 - Rhosgobel

**Chapter 7 - Rhosgobel**

 **A/N:** Rhosgobel, is where the wizard Radagast lives, if you're wanting a bit of action, well here's the chapter for it.

 _ **SEVEN**_

Once the company had returned from their trip to Dale, Legolas immediately had a weaving loom, set-up in Minerva's chambers, as what he had promised her. He did not do it for the sake of kindness, nor to give her some sort of entertainment for boredom, maybe. But the prince's intention behind it, is to distract Minerva, and prevent her from leaving the confines of Mirkwood. However, Minerva was well aware of this.

"You are quite fast with weaving..." Glorfindel said, as he watched Minerva weave with so much skill, that she was halfway done with whatever she was weaving.

"Is that the forest of Yavanna that you are weaving?" he added, as he looked closely, upon recognizing the place in the tapestry.

"Why yes... mostly during autumn, when the leaves turn yellow, and red."

Glorfindel suddenly felt nostalgic, remembering the woods of Yavanna, and how beautiful it was to walk there during autumn. Even if it wasn't autumn, the woods were still beautiful and peaceful.

"Tell me cousin, did you develop some sort of infatuation with the King of Dale?" Glorfindel asked randomly, causing blood to rush into her face.

She stopped her work, and look down on the cloth, trying to hide her red cheeks.

"Oh my! it is true then!" he said, whilst sitting beside her.

"How did you know?"

"I could read expressions very well... that's why. Every time the King talked to you, you would look down, talk softly, and blush." he teased.

"Is it that obvious?!"

Glorfindel laughed. "Yes..."

"Please do not let my father hear any of this..." Legolas said, causing them to both jolt in surprise, as he entered the room unannounced.

"I was just jesting with Minerva..." Glorfindel said cooly.

Legolas left the matter be for a while, and stared at the work that she had weaved.

"You are quick and skillful with weaving..." he said, referring to her almost finished work. It seems that he may need to get her more strings and yarn in the market, to continually distract her. "This is beautiful..." he said, touching the intricate details of the tapestry.

Minerva smiled with the prince's compliment.

He then turned to Glorfindel and pulled him aside, to discuss the matter earlier. "What do you mean that Lady Minerva here, has developed some sort of infatuation with the King of Dale? how is that even possible?"

"I could hear you Legolas!" She said, her voice sounded a little confrontational. "It is some sort of infatuation as you say! what is wrong with that?"

Legolas was lost for words. "W-why is that?" he asked trying to comprehend what she had seen with the King of Dale.

"Because he is a gentleman, and I have never been assisted in mounting a horse before, nor my skirts had been smoothed out."

"I open the door for you?" Legolas interjected.

"That's not what I meant Legolas... What I really wanted to say is, I never had a stranger treat me so kindly before... and a King some more..." she sighed dreamily, and turned back to the two elves.

"But my father treats you well My Lady..." Legolas reasoned.

"No... Your father always held his head high when talking to me. He is pompous, and always made me feel small, there is no humility in him like the King of Dale! King Bard always talked to me in a kind manner, and -"

The two elves suddenly turned pale, their attention was on something or rather someone behind her.

Minerva turned around to find none other that King Thranduil himself.

"And?" he said coldly, whilst eyeing her.

"Nothing my Lord... just some trivial matters..." Glorfindel said, trying to make an excuse.

"I heard my name so as the King of Dale, surely it isn't something trivial..."

"No Ada... it is nothing" Legolas said, interjecting. "Ada, have you read my report?" he said, changing the topic immediately.

"Not yet..."

"Well... I've got additional things I wanted to discuss with you regarding that report, can we speak privately please?" Legolas said, trying to loosen up the tension in the room, by having the King leave with him to his office.

"Let's go..." King Thranduil said turning around.

Legolas followed behind, mouthing something to them, before leaving.

"That was close..." Glorfindel said, as he closed the door, once they left. "King Thranduil would've declared war against King Bard, if he has heard everything you have said. Especially that infatuation you had developed towards him. Well, I hope he didn't hear any of it at all."

"Are you serious?!" she said in disbelief, taking what Glorfindel said seriously.

"No, I was jesting... calm down." Glorfindel said, "Although it is somewhat likely to happen."

Minerva's expression turned paler.

"I was jesting! I was jesting... calm down Minerva, and continue your weaving..." he said, as he pushed her shoulders, and sat her back down in front of the weaving loom.

* * *

Thranduil couldn't concentrate and has tuned Legolas out, who was busy summarising his report. His mind was preoccupied with what Minerva had said, and it made him angry how she can develop some sort of infatuation with an old fart, yet not with him. Out of frustration, he clutched the wine goblet so hard, that it broke into pieces.

"Ada!" Legolas gasp in horror, seeing what his father had just done. "Are you alright Ada? Did I say something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"No... continue..." he said, brushing it off quickly, and headed to his small kitchenette to clean his bleeding hand.

Legolas immediately looked for bandages, and cleaned his father's wounds.

"Is there something you want to get out of the way? this isn't like you Ada..."

"Am I pompous? Did I not treat her kindly?" he asked, as he watched his son wrap the bandage around his wounded hand.

"You heard everything Ada?" Legolas said, as he looked at his father, terrified. "Please do not declare war on Dale..."

"Of course not... You think I would go to war for such trivial matter?"

Legolas fell silent.

"I just don't get it... what did she ever see in that old fart?"

"A-are you jealous?" he asked his father, as he had never saw his father act this way before. Thranduil's eye widened, clearly taken aback with his son's question.

"Maybe... maybe not... I have other important matters to attend to, than to worry about such things..." the King said, quickly brushing off what his son had said.

"But you were just asking m-"

Thranduil narrowed his eyes at his son, causing Legolas to immediately fall silent, and push the topic quickly aside. They immediately got back into discussing the main objective, as the 'trivial' matter was quickly forgotten, at least for a while.

* * *

"Minerva..." said a soft whisper.

Minerva opened her eyes to find the Vala of dreams and desires, Irmo, seated beside her.

"My Lord..." she gave a slight bow as a sign of respect, and Irmo in return, smiled back at her.

"Child... don't get drawn away from your task , remember your main duty..."

"Drawn away?"

Irmo then pointed to her weaving loom. "Someone is trying to distract you..."

"Legolas..." she said, somewhat aware of his intentions of confining her in Mirkwood, and Irmo further confirmed it by nodding.

"Head to Rhosgobel, and find the wizard, Aiwendil..."

"Aiwendil? Radagast?"

"Yes... your task begins there..." and with that, Irmo said no more, and left.

* * *

"Minerva?!" a voice jolted her awake. She looked to her side, to find herself leaning against the rocking chair, and realized that she must've dozed off without noticing.

"You've dozed off..." Glorfindel said, as he looked at the new tapestry that she had just finished weaving.

"Was there someone here earlier? "

"Nay, it's just me. I left you earlier so you could rest and take a short nap. King Thranduil wants to see you at his study." he said, whilst admiring the tapestry, raising it up, to view its full glory.

"Then it wasn't a dream..." she said, upon realizing that Irmo actually did communicate with her, through a dream.

"What do you mean?" Glorfindel eyed her questioningly, not really sure what she was talking about.

"I must go..."

"Go? to where?" his brows furrowed, putting the tapestry side.

"Rhosgobel... I have a duty, and that duty I must fulfill" she said.

"I do not understand..." he said, with a look of confusion, whilst blocking her path.

"Yes you do Glorfindel, you yourself was sent back as an emissary by the valar, you would understand. You have to understand!" she said, as she stared straight into his eyes, pleading to let her go.

Glorfindel sighed in resignation. He didn't want to let his cousin go, but he knew that they must follow the Valars' orders.

She then started packing her things, and began to equipping her armor and weapons.

"What would do you tell the prince and the king?"

"I'll be back in a few weeks time, there's really nothing to worry about." she said, tearing a piece of paper, and began writing on it. "You better not be involve, pretend that you did not know anything of my trip. The king hates the Noldor."

"That's Oropher, not Thranduil... he does not share the same opinion as his father" Glorfindel said, correcting her. " And Oropher had valid reasons to..." he said referring to the kinslaying that happened a few ages ago.

"I know, but it is easy to blame someone..." she said, stating a point. After she finished writing her letter, she folded the piece of paper, and placed it on top of the finished tapestry.

He then nodded knowingly, saying no more, and accompanied her to the stables, to get her a horse.

* * *

Minerva arrived at Rhosgobel, a few hours later, and was met and greeted by the wizard Radagast and his animal friends.

"What took you so long?" Radagast greeted, as he helped her down her horse. He looked like he was already expecting to see her, possibly because the Valars had already informed him of her arrival.

"I was distracted..." she said referring to Legolas who tried to divert her attention from her mission.

"The Prince? or was it the King?" he asked.

"Both..." she said, as they continued to trek the forest path, followed by his troupes of friendly animals. "He cannot find me here can he?" she asked, as the last thing she wanted was to get dragged back to Mirkwood.

"The best hiding place, is where the adversary expects to find you the least. Still within the borders of Mirkwood!" he said stating a point.

There was a large herb garden and a beautiful tree home which was created in an instant, other's said it was Elven craft, others say it's an Istari's magic. But to her, she believe the later, as she had seen what Istaris can do.

"That's a very beautiful home you have..." she said, as looked at it with awe, there were similar houses like his, in Valinor. She suddenly found herself missing the place.

"Thank You! but you're not going to live there..." he said.

She suddenly feel a pang of disappointment, upon mentioning that she couldn't dwell there.

"It would be inconvenient for a lady to live with me, especially the fact they live with me and that I get visitors all the time." he added, pointing to his animal friends, which made her understand his point. "However, we've prepared a place for you..." he said, and pointed to a large tree, adjacent to his treehouse.

She then looked at it in awe, on how large tree was, and it's windows shutters and door looked dainty, and was painted in dark green.

"That's where you'll stay!" he said, and motioned for her to follow him.

She eagerly walked behind him, as they headed for the door. She felt moved that Radagast took the time to make a place for her to stay in.

"Thank You Aiwendil..." she said, thanking him sincerely, calling him by his original name.

"Don't mention it! I'll help with whatever I can." he then turned to the door, and proceeded to open it. "Come on, don't you want to see what's on the inside?"

"Of course! hold on."

They then entered the tree cottage, and she was astounded with it's simple yet rustic interior. There was a bedroom, bathroom, a small kitchen where she could cook. There was also a small breakfast nook, fireplace within the living room space, and a small library, with a weaving loom, sewing machine, and study, where she could do her research, weave, brew potions, or maybe practice her magic.

She then climbed up the small winding staircase, and headed for the highest floor there is. The highest floor only had a built-in bookshelf filled with books, a chair, and a glass door with a wooden frame, that leads to a small lookout, rather a balcony. There outside, was the view of the glimmering River Anduin to the west, and the long, dark expanse of dense forest to the north and east. And in one side, far down the southern part, was Dol Guldur, which carves a haunting scar in the sky above southern Wilderland.

"One of your tasks is to keep watch on the hill of sorcery" Radagast said, and she nodded in reply, already expecting that this would be part of her task.

"If you don't feel like looking at times, which I also do , just look at the other side, and try to calm down and meditate. You would still feel if there is something amiss without looking." was his advice before leaving the balcony. "Well, I shall go, and leave you to get used to your new home now."

"Thank you again, Aiwendil..."

* * *

It was one of those days where Minerva would weave in the afternoon, while she watched Radagast water his herb garden from down below. She looked proudly at the tapestries that she had finished weaving within just week, and thought of hanging them in the walls of her house.

The activity at Dol Guldur was still the same, the barren hillsides of the old hill of sorcery are usually shrouded in dark clouds, but as a Maiar, her gaze is subtle and penetrating. She can monitor any strange movements, and provide the forest with whatever aid she can offer.

And it was that same time, that she saw large spiders, coming their way.

"Ungols! Ungols! Ungols are coming our way!" she yelled, as she dropped whatever she was doing, and warned Radagast from up above the look out.

Radagast immediately drop his watering can, and ran back inside his house with his troupe, to grab his staff. Minerva did the same, having the little rodents and birds enter her home, before shutting her windows, and arming herself with a bow and arrow.

The spiders soon arrived at their compound, and went on to ruin Radagast' herb garden.

She then climbed up the balcony, and positioned herself to snipe her adversary. She then grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and drew her bow, aiming it on one of the large spiders.

 ** _Lady Varda, hear my plea,_**

 ** _create the power of fire to burn within me._**

 ** _Fire as strong as the fire that fuels a star._**

 ** _Oh Lady Varda, hear my plea..._**

She uttered a spell, rather a plea to the Valar of the stars, to provide her fire that burns hot as the stars above. Instantly, the head of her arrow was in flames.

She then stretched the string of her bow further, and released the arrow. The arrow that she shot pierced the spider's body, causing the large spider to be suddenly engulfed in flames, that was in a hue of blue. The flames of Varda manifested its strong power by instantly killing the dark creature, and consuming its body.

Some of the spiders retreated back, while others, grew angry, and began to destroy Radagast's home, thinking it was him who had caused the fire.

"Radagast!" she yelled, as she shot another arrow, bringing another Ungol down.

Radagast then came out of his house, armed with his staff, and threw a fireball towards another ungol.

"I'm alright!" he yelled, giving her the assurance that he was fine. "Keep shooting!" he said, as he began to fight with the spiders.

She then kept shooting, whilst Radagast challenged them in combat, cutting their limbs or most of the time, stabbing them right in the head.

"Minerva! Look out!" Radagast warned, as she looked down to find a number of ungols climbing up on her tree house. They seemed to have figure out that she was the sniper who was using fire.

 _ **Oh Lady Varda**_

 _ **We shun the evil**_

 _ **We beckon the light,**_

 _ **Please help her stand strong,**_

 _ **Protection last long...**_

Radagast pointed his staff towards her, and muttered a defense spell to protect her from harm.

Minerva then continued shooting as fast as she could, dwindling the number of ungols that were climbing the tree, but there were just too many, and not enough time to get rid of all of them before they reach her.

She then quickly retreated back inside the house, and went back downstairs to grab her sword.

Running out of her house, she then unsheathed her sword, and immediately came to Radagast' aid.

As a spider advances towards them, Minerva raises her sword and swiftly moves, cutting its legs, as Radagast cuts the other side.

They both smugly smile at each other, proud of their teamwork, and then both buried their swords on foul creature's head.

The ungols felt appalled with their power, and in result, quickly retreated out of the area.

"This is Dol Guldur's doing..." she said, looking at the dead spiders that ruined their compound.

"They had never been so aggressive lately..." Radagast said.

"I see that you no longer needed my help..." A voice from behind spoke, they both turned around to find an old man, dressed in robes of grey. He looked around to see dead and burned spiders within their compound.

"Gandalf!" Radagast said, greeting his fellow Istari.

"Olorin?"

"Yes my lady, and you must be Minerva." he greeted.

* * *

Minerva looked at the tapestry that she had made, and thought of selling it on the great market of Mirkwood, up north. Surely the elves would pay much more of a higher price than in Dale.

After the surprise attack by the ungols, Radagast's herb garden was completely destroyed. It was then that she thought of pitching in and help him rebuild his garden, by buying herbs that were already in the pots.

"I see that you're heading out my lady..." Gandalf greeted, seated in a stone bench of the grassy courtyard of their compound. He was smoking a pipe whilst Radagast was roasting beans and tomatoes.

"Why yes, I'm headed out to sell these..." she said, showing Gandalf the tapestry she had made the other day.

"Oh my, this is beautiful! The elves would surely pay high for this" he said, raising the tapestry up, viewing its full glory.

"I told you, you don't need to do that!" Radagast said, as he brewed some hot coco on the side.

"I just want to help you rebuild your garden, it's the least I could do to help!"

Radagast sighed in resignation, before turning back to what he was cooking. Surely, his animal friends would help him gather seeds, just to help him replant his herb garden, but it would take longer. Minerva thought of going to the market, and buy herbs that were already planted in pots, in that way, they would no longer have to do much work in re-planting and growing herbs, as all they need to do is migrate the plants from the pots to Rhasgobel's soil.

"If you're going to head up north, don't just come out like that." Gandalf said, looking at her.

"What is wrong with the way I look like?" she asked worriedly, and ran back inside her house, to look at herself at the full length mirror.

Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid. She was wearing a plain basil green dress, with a scoop neckline, and a dark green surcoat on top of her dress. The dark blue apron wrapped around her waist added to her messy look. She looked far from a Maiar, and that's what she was exactly going for, to be able to blend in, with the crowd.

"I'm not going to the palace Gandalf, must I really dress up?" she said, coming out of her house.

"That's not what I meant Minerva... you look alright."

"Then?"

Gandalf then took out a piece of paper from his satchel and handed it to her.

Her eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing what was written on the piece of paper.

It was a wanted sign, a bounty to whomever could point where her location is. What scared her the most, was how her portrait was drawn so accurately.

"This can't be! I didn't do anything wrong"

"It's either the King's or the Prince's doing..." Gandalf said, as he took out his pipe, and began smoking. "Better go out in a disguise... If you don't want either one of them, dragging you back to the palace."

"Disguise..." she looked at Gandalf uneasily. The art of disguise is a form of magic that she hasn't exactly mastered well. It was the only thing that she had overlooked, when she was mastering the art of casting spells.

"You're a fellow maiar, you should know."

"I haven't mastered that form of magic..."

"W-why?" he said, as 'disguising' was a very common craft among the Maiars.

"I overlooked it, in favor of other spells..." she said whilst sighing.

"Leave her be Gandalf. You can't even burn snow, or conjure fire like she does." Radagast teased, as he placed their breakfast in front of them. He was trying to make a point, that Maiars alike also have their own limitations.

* * *

Standing in front of her full length mirror that was in the small living room , Minerva held the book, where the incantation of disguise was written, and read its instructions.

She then placed her hand in front of the mirror, and looked at herself in the eyes.

 _ **Lies**_

 _ **Guise,**_

 _ **Give me a disguise!**_

 _ **Dragon frog and chameleon sight,**_

 _ **I command the shrouded sea.**_

 _ **I blend in the mist, I mix in the light.**_

 _ **Refract around behind thee.**_

She then pushed herself inside the mirror, and a few seconds later, came out looking invisible, as she blended in with the surroundings.

"No!" she said, horrified. Being invisible isn't what she wanted, as she won't b able to sell the tapestry in that case. What she wanted was to alter her face so that no one will recognize her.

"Lies, Guise, No more a disguise!" Gandalf said, undoing the spell, returning her back to normal.

"You're saying the wrong spell..." he said, as he copied the same motion that Minerva did earlier.

 _ **Lies**_

 _ **Guise,**_

 _ **Let me create a disguise**_

 _ **Mold me to the shape I want**_

 _ **Lies,**_

 _ **Guise,**_

 _ **Create my disguise!**_

Gandalf entered the mirror, only to return back out, as young elf with ash blonde hair.

"How did you?" she said, completely astounded with the spell he had cast on himself. He had completely altered the way he looked. A perfect disguise indeed.

"You must think clearly of how you want to look like, before you enter and come out of the mirror."

Minerva nodded, before standing in front of her mirror once more, and began to cast her spell, uttering the same words that Gandalf did.

She closed her eyes, and entered the mirror. A few seconds later, she came back out, as an elf, with grey hair, paler skin, and her once blue eyes, now turned forest green.

Gandalf laughed upon seeing her new look.

"I see you have some sort of fascination with the King of Dale." he teased.

"How did you know? did Glorfindel tell you?"

"No. It's those eyes that gave you away. That type of forest green, only runs along the line of Lord Girion."

"Oh..."she said, as she looked down blushing. "Well since you are already on a disguise, and have a cart, why don't you just accompany me to the market." she said, as she packed her stuff on her satchel.

"Aye I will. I might need to buy some necessities as well."

* * *

They arrived at the great market around noon, which was the less busiest time, as the store vendors were about to close their stalls and shops, to take a quick lunch break.

Gandalf and Minerva hurriedly got down from their cart and proceeded to do their main task of buying necessities, and selling the tapestry she had made.

"fifteen gold coins..." The store owner turned to her, stating her offer, as she admiringly looked at the tapestry Minerva had woven.

Minerva smiled, fifteen gold coins was surely enough to buy what the necessities they need, including the pots of herbs.

"This surely is a nice tapestry... how about I buy it from you for forty?" Gandalf said, carrying a basket of groceries as he approached them. Minerva looked at him worriedly, not exactly knowing what he was up to.

The store owner suddenly looked worried. "forty five gold coins?" she said, turning to Minerva.

"forty eight gold coins!" Gandalf said.

"Fifty gold coins!" was the store owner's final offer.

"Sold..." she said, just for the sake of them to stop bidding against each other.

The store owner smiled, and handed her a small pouch of coins, then turned away quickly, to display the tapestry on the shop's wall.

Minerva then left the area, followed by Gandalf.

"What was that all about Gandalf?" she asked, as they walked side by side.

"The store owner was short changing you... " he stated, as they made their way to their cart. "A tapestry of that quality doesn't costs fifteen gold."

"But with what you've done, we've overpriced it..." she reasoned.

Gandalf laughed. "Yes, for about five gold coins? Please know your worth... I find you a little too kind... no offense."

She looked down in recollection of her past. It wasn't the first time that she was short changed for her work. Gandalf indeed had a point.

"Thanks..."

"Let's just buy all the rest that we need, then we could leave this crowded market."

"Aye..." she said, as they quickly headed for the fishmonger.

Suddenly, a commotion was heard from far away.

"What's happening?" she said tiptoeing from the tall crowd.

"Prince Legolas..." Gandalf said, as he squinted his eyes, in an attempt to see more clearly who was approaching.

Minerva suddenly felt panic rising within her, that she almost bolted into a run, until Gandalf stopped her, and tried to calm her down. "Calm down... he won't know it's you..." he said, pointing out their disguise.

The prince, along with his guards, proceeded with great speed with their horses, as they entered the streets of Mirkwood's great market. They later unmounted their horses, and walked along the streets, patrolling the area.

Everyone proceeded to look down, and gave a slight bow as a sign of respect. Gandalf encouraged her to do the same, as the prince quickly passed by them.

To their surprise, the prince stopped, and eyed her.

"You're not from here? aren't you?" Legolas said, as he examined her face. Grey hair, green eyes, pale skin.

"H-How... how did..."

"I make it my business to know those that live here, and those who leave and enter the borders of my kingdom."

"I'm sorry my lord, we are visitors from Ered Luin, this is my younger sister..." Gandalf interjected, and paused for a while to quickly think of a name. "Caladhiel... and I'm Glandur... son of Sulimo... we came here just for a short visit. "

Legolas examined the both elves. They both shared ash colored hair and pale skin, while the other had bluish grey eyes, the younger sister had a peculiar forest green hue. It was something so peculiar, and tried his best to remember where he saw that hue of green.

"My Lord?" 'Glandur' called, taking him out of his reverie.

"I see... I wish you well on your travels then..." he said, before walking away with his guards to patrol the area.

"Let's go quickly..." Gandalf said, taking her out of her reverie, as he gently pulled her to their cart.

* * *

Legolas' eyes widened, as he saw a familiar tapestry, displayed on one of the shops. He quickly entered the place, and confronted the shop owner.

"My Lord..." the shop owner bowed, upon seeing the prince, along with his guards, enter her shop.

"Where did you get that from?" he said, pointing to the tapestry of Yavanna's woods during autumn.

"Ah... it's very intricate, don't you think?" she said, admiring the tapestry before turning back to the prince. "I bought it from a traveller that came Ered Luin."

"Ered Luin?! How did she look like?"

"Yes... grey hair, pale skin... green eyes... "

It was then that Legolas realized, that the green eyed elleth, might be someone he had been looking for. Those green hues that she bore in her eyes, are so rare, but were often present in the line of Daleings, specifically the line of Lord Girion.

"Patrol all the exits and find those grey haired elves!" he ordered, as his guards nodded and headed for the exits.

* * *

Legolas clenched his fist in anger, the 'elf' had tricked him. All of the signs were right in front of him yet he had ignored every single one of them. He had ignored the nervous reaction that she had when he talked to her. He had ignored those green eyes that was the same hue as the the King of Dale. He had ignored the ellon who had interjected their conversation, answering on behalf of his 'sister'. It did not hit him till much later, as he stared into the large window of his father's study, that he was deceived.

"Do not underestimate her, she is a maiar after all..." Thranduil said, pulling his son out from reverie. "No matter how naive she seemed... I myself, made a mistake of underestimating her..." he added.

* * *

That evening, the three maiars, sat on their chairs, around the circular fire pit that was in the middle of the compound's courtyard. Radagast was busy roasting s'mores, kabobs and orange cake, whilst listening to the serious discussion that Gandalf and Minerva were having, about the incident that happened at the market earlier.

"That was close... we barely got out of their." Gandalf sighed in relief.

"Legolas quickly realized something was amiss... it is scary how sharp he is." she said, as she took some s'mores that were done roasting.

"He's an elven warrior , his senses and intuition are surely very strong." Radagast added. "And you did make it a little obvious with the hue of green that you wore." he said, pointing to the color of her eyes that she used earlier.

"As long as clear your footsteps well, they will never track you down." Gandalf said. "I know what you saw in Bard..." he teased.

Minerva smiled knowingly, it made her feel like a schoolgirl who was telling her crush to a friend. "You do?"

"It will be most likely because of his kindness..."

"Aye... I never really had a stanger treat me so kindly before. It would be nice to see that old man all over again."

Gandalf smiled. "I am glad to hear that, because your next task is to travel to Dale. It would be a short one, advise Dain against reclaiming Moria."

 _ **A/N:**_ That was a long one, LOL. I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors. Also, I would just like to remind the readers that what Minerva feels towards Bard, is mere infatuation, an unrequited one in fact. Adding to that, Bard is already old in this story.

Second, it is also written in the book , that Gandalf had a problem melting snow, therefore I conclude that he had a hard time conjuring fire.

More action in the upcoming chapters btw! How you enjoyed.


	8. Chapter 8 - Sniper in the Dark

A/N: Chapter 8 is up! Sorry for the late update, I was really busy with work.

 **Chapter 8**

 **Sniper in the Dark**

"They wouldn't listen to me Gandalf, they insist on venturing to those dark mines..." Minerva said exasperated, as she alighted from her mare.

Gandalf greeted her with an expected sigh of resignation. "The stubbornness of the dwarves..."

"What are we going to do?"

"We can only hope that they do not wake the darkness underneath those mines... There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world..." he said darkly. He knew what was underneath the chasm, however, he did not know what its form. He then turned around to face her. "In the meantime, you must prioritise something else..."

"What is it?"

"Guard this forest..." he said, as he got on her horse instead. "While I head to Gondor..."

She chuckled, " Of course, I will... I won't be appointed the guardian if I wouldn't..." she said, referring to Orome's appointed task to her.

Gandalf smiled, and left with a nod, galloping down the dusty path of the forest.

Though this was the time of the watchful peace, the shadow of the east was slowly growing, the wilderness was becoming dangerous all over again, the goblins and orcs were regrouping, and evil was stirring once more in Dol Guldur.

It was a dark secluded part that she had always passed by, though it was dark, the Valar gave Minerva the ability to see in the darkness. The moon and stars gave her enough light. She guarded the forests and its borders and often cleaned it from its danger.

She then drew her arrow and its tip is suddenly engulfed in blue fire. In a quick reflex, she stretches the bow string and fires at the dark creature from a distance. It's body quickly igniting in flames, the fire consuming it, giving light on the dark forest.

As she headed towards another part, an arrow almost landed on her foot. She froze upon seeing that it was of elven origin. Though she was gifted with a strong sight, she was not given the ability to hear elven footsteps as they are light. However, she could sense their presence nearby. The Valar gave her the ability to sense from afar after all.

 ** _I must leave..._**

However, before she could take another step, another arrow landed on her path.

She glared at it, knowing it was a challenge from the sniper in the dark. Whoever it was, it appears to be a taunt. Drawing her bow and arrow, she quickly diverted to another path, sensing the archer's presence.

She knelt down, knowing there was another arrow headed towards her direction. In a quick reflex of the arm, she drew another arrow from her quiver, and shot the approaching arrow, pinning it on a tree.

However, another arrow flew past the near to the skin of her neck, she heard it whistle like a young bird as it flew and landed behind her.

Cold sweat beaded her forehead and the hair on the back of her neck stood, as she was almost caught off-guard. the sniper in the dark seemed to be enjoying whatever he was doing to her. She could imagine him chuckling to himself and that somewhat irked her.

This time around, she did not draw an arrow from her quiver, instead, she pulled the string of her bow and light in the hue of blue gathered on her palms and bow, and formed the shape of an arrow. She charges her shot and pointed to the direction where the arrow came.

 ** _Now, let's see how will you respond to this!_**

She releases the string of her bow, firing the magical arrow, a strong force of wind followed it from behind, causing some leaves to fall off branches, and fly in a circular motion along its path, as if there was a storm.

She chuckled to herself, as she felt the sniper's presence avoid her shot when her magical arrow reaches its target on the other side. The wind echoed, as the arrow disappears like sand. For a while, she thought she heard wind-blown hair, but shook it off thinking it was just her over-active imagination.

However, before she could even turn around to walk away she felt a cold blade touch her neck.

"A guardian caught off-guard..." a deep voice whispered into her ears, causing some shivers on her spine.

She slowly looks up to find beautiful blue eyes, and thick brows looking at her smugly.

"Thranduil, you scared me! Please do not do that again" she sighed in relief, as she leant in against him.

Taking the chance, his arm slowly wrapped around her waist, whilst he took in her scent. Oh! how he missed her presence.

"I never thought that you could fire a bow..." she said.

"Of course, I could not have taught my son if I didn't know how to wield a bow." Thranduil slowly stepped back, but not before letting his arm trace the curve of her neck. She would have reacted as he was getting a little 'touchy'. However, his hands felt good and warm, as it slid down on the back of her neck, therefore, she left it be.

"You are coming back with me... to the palace..." he said, and it did not sound like a request. She knew this was coming.

"No... I have a duty to fulfil!"

"Guard the forest... I know, but couldn't you do the same thing while you stay in the palace?" he stated, and he had a strong point. Wherever she was, as long as she was in this territory, she could guard the forest. However, she did not want to go back to the palace, because it meant that she would lose her freedom. Thranduil would most likely keep her as his 'wife' and she was not ready for any relationship. Heck, she was even single and had no boyfriend since birth, nor did she even get her first kiss, before she even came to this place.

He chuckled, his lips forming a handsome yet smug smile. "Then I would have to continue to convince you..." he then whistles, and a large beautiful elk gallops to their direction.

Stretching out his hand for her to take, she eyed it warily, not knowing whether she should take it or not. "Come with me..."

"To the palace? I said no!"

"No... not to the palace, I want to take you some place elsewhere"he states, and she examines his expression, finding sincerity in them. She felt hesitant for a while, before confronting him once again about his intentions. "Wait?! are you asking me out on a date?!"

"Date?" Thranduil raised an eyebrow.

"Uhhmmm... date... uhhmmm," she thought hard for a while, thinking of a befitting adjective to describe the word. "A 'romantic' engagement, rendezvous... I don't know, I'm running out of words to describe it..."

He chuckles. "If so, yes, I am asking you to come with me on a romantic engagement..."

"I... I've never been in one before" she mutters to herself, and looks down in embarrassment. Which Thranduil noticed. He smiles to himself, as he sauntered towards where she stood.

He lifted her chin with his index finger and stared into her blue eyes. "So was that a 'Yes' or a 'No' ?"

"I... yes..." she says, as she stares back on his handsome face, and light blue eyes, almost getting lost in them. She almost wanted to smack herself upon realising what she had just agreed on.

 **A/N:** I'll be doing some soft editing, as I might have grammatical errors . Forgive me for the very late update as well. I was really busy with work and will try to update more often now.

That ability where she fired a magical arrow with the wind following, was actually inspired by **Windranger's** ability called **"Powershot"** (if you play DOTA, you'll know what I mean, or if not, you could just go to youtube to view it.)


	9. Chapter 9 - Rendezvous

**A/N:** Chapter 9 is up! Some fluff here and there. Forgive me for my late updates, everyone. I was busy with work. But I'll try to update more often.

 **Chapter 9**

 ** _Rendesvouz_**

Minerva sat stiff as she rode side-saddle on the elks back, right in front of Thranduil. She suddenly remembered the time when she rode side-saddle with the King of Dale. It was awkward, and she couldn't stop blushing for the first few minutes. However, after a while, the man's kindness made her relax. But for Thranduil's case, it was different, there was tension.

"We're here..." Thranduil said as he stopped his mount.

Her mouth hung agape as she saw the view before her. From afar all the way west, was the long stretch of mountains and the gleaming Anduin river. The pale moon and the stars bathed the dark landscape with light, making it look ethereal. They shone brightly, and their light, reflected on the stretch of water, making it look like a painting of the galaxy. It suddenly reminded her of Yavanna's woods, every time she stood on top of a high hill and watched the moon set.

A tear rolled down her cheek upon seeing the magnificent view. It was a better view of the river, compared to the side where Rhosgobel stood, where the darkness of Dol Guldur invaded the beautiful view. Though her life was much better compared to what it was before, she still had dark days, especially when her task gets heavy.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, taking in the view. She smiled at the fact that Lady Varda could see her right now. After all, she was the lady of the stars.

"I know..." Thranduil said softly, looking at her. He wasn't referring to the view, but to her.

"How do you know of this place?" she asked innocently.

He smiled, as the answer to the question was so obvious. This was Thranduil's realm, and he knows each and every corner of it.

"Oh... I forgot you are the King after all..." she said, looking away in embarrassment.

His mouth curved into a grin as he leant against a tree that stood nearby. "I've been wanting to ask you something? he began.

"What is it?" she turned to look at him. His blue eyes looked like they were glowing in the darkness.

"The festival is coming soon..." he began, referring to the celebrations that are held in Mirkwood. "I want you to come..." he added.

"Oh..." she hesitated for a while, as attending might mean that she needs to go back to the confines of the palace. "I can't... you see-"

"If you're worried that I will lock you up in the palace once more, don't be..." he assured.

She looked away, realising that he had read what was on her mind. It wasn't the first time that she had run into Thranduil in the forest and he tried to invite her to tea or dinner, only to reject him afterwards.

"Well it's not only that my lord... you see, I have a duty... and I cannot and wish not to remove this armour I'm wearing." she said, referring to the armour created by the Valar, that she wore on top of her dark coloured hunting dress.

" she said, referring to the armour created by the Valar, that she wore on top of her dark coloured hunting dress

"Your point, my lady?"

"The festival is a formal occasion, I do not have a dress that will go well with my armour, and wear it to the festival." she reasoned out. It sounded a little shallow, but It was compulsory to look your best in front of the king's presence. Therefore, she knew that Thranduil didn't want to see her looking as if she's going for a 'hunt' during the festival.

"That could be arranged..." he chuckled.

"That is not necessary... I plan to guard the borders during the eve of the festival... It is my duty, my lord." she tried to reason out again.

He turned to face her, a sly grin appearing on his handsome face. "You're afraid..." he said as he sauntered towards her.

"A-afraid? a-a-fraid of what?" she asked confused.

"The great huntswoman of the Valar, Lady Minerva is afraid..." he taunted, as he continued towards her direction. She, on the other hand, stepped back.

"Afraid of what?!" she asked, not really liking his tone. She continued to back away, as he attempted to close the distance between them.

"Afraid of me..." he whispered, and the hum of his deep voice, reverberated throughout her body.

"I am not afraid of you..." she declared, quickly moving away from him. "You can keep on trying to hold me within the confines of the palace, but I will escape again and again."

"That is not what I was talking about my lady..." he said, as she hit a tree, stopping her from moving away further. Finally closing the distance between them. His long limbs caged her.

She gulped, as he leant in closer, bringing his face near hers, and reached out to tenderly cup her chin in his hand, softly brushing his thumb against her lips. Closing her eyes shut, she expected a kiss from him. It was inevitable, she could not stop him as he is stronger than she is.

Although she was the Valar's great huntswoman, she won't fare so much against a warrior who had been battle tested for thousands of years. Thranduil was still stronger and she wouldn't be able to do anything if he kisses her.

Much to her surprise, he didn't kiss her. Instead, he smiled, and caressed her cheek before walking away.

He gallantly turned and headed to his elk. " I'll see you when I see you..." he said as he mounted his elk and rode off to the pale moonlight.

Minerva could not believe that he did not even take 'advantage' of her. She certainly did not expect him to be this way and found herself impressed with his behaviour. The king was full of surprises and she could not help but wonder what else does he have up his sleeves.

 **A/N:** I might do some soft editing because I might have made some grammatical errors.

-Forgive for the long update, I was busy with work, but I'll try my best to update often.

\- Some action might be back on the next parts!


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